Broken
by Goldengirlie
Summary: "The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places"-Ernest Hemingway. Annabeth Chase is broken, living in a world that chews people up and spits them out. When a damaged boy from her past stumbles back into her life, she must learn her own strength, and learn to trust again. T for language. LONG ONESHOT


(Third Person POV)

Chiron Brunner sits alone in the Camp Half Blood office, sifting through the counselor files. For once, he's behind when it comes to organizing things. He turns on his reading lamp and starts reading.

 _ **Jason Grace: Cabin One/ Zeus counselor. Often can be found by the basketball courts. Attends Jupiter Academy in upstate New York. Prone to accidents, specifically head injuries. Sister is Thalia Grace.**_

 _ **Perseus "Percy" Jackson: Cabin Three/Poseidon counselor. Certified lifeguard. Attends Goode High School in Manhattan. Prone to bad luck, especially on trips. Have another counselor with him on trips to prevent accidents.**_

 _ **Katherine "Katie" Gardner: Cabin Four/ Demeter counselor. Loves gardening. Attends Parterre Academy in Syracuse, New York. Would prefer to teach the gardening program and work with the Satyr team in the strawberry fields when the campers are in cabin activities.**_

 _ **Clarisse La Rue: Cabin Five/ Ares co-counselor. Attending camp for half the season in order to train her successor. Attends University of Arizona. Will be working in the Big House during cabin activities.**_

 _ **Frank Zhang: Cabin Five/ Ares co-counselor. Attends Periclymenus Academy in upstate New York. Would prefer working the archery station.**_

 _ **Annabeth Chase: Cabin Six/ Athena counselor. Attended camp for six years. Attends East River Academy for Gifted Girls in Manhattan. National Honor Society member. Extremely level headed and logical. Would work best watching Percy on trips.**_

 _ **Will Solace: Cabin Seven/ Apollo counselor. Attends Roger M Davidson Academy in Brooklyn. Certified in CPR. Would prefer to work in the infirmary.**_

 _ **Thalia Grace: Cabin Eight/ Artemis counselor. Attends Hunter Academy for Girls in western New York. Would prefer to work the treetop course at the ground level. Brother is Jason Grace.**_

 _ **Leonidas "Leo" Valdez: Cabin Nine/ Hephaestus counselor. Attends the Wilderness School in upstate New York. Trilingual. Would prefer to work in sculpture and woodcarving pavilion.**_

 _ **Piper McLean: Cabin Ten/ Aphrodite counselor. Attends Aeneas Preparatory School in upstate New York. Vegetarian. has no preference for assignment. Prone to starting food fights.**_

 _ **Travis Stoll: Cabin Eleven/ Hermes co-counselor. Attends Chatford High School in Syracuse. Would prefer to work with Connor Stoll, his brother.**_

 _ **Connor Stoll: Cabin Eleven/ Hermes co-counselor. Attends Chatford High School in Syracuse. Would prefer to work with Travis Stoll at the Camp Store. Brother is Travis Stoll.**_

 _ **Pollux Bacchae- Cabin Twelve/ Dionysus co-counselor. Attends Acoetes College of Agriculture in New Jersey. Would prefer to work with the Satyr team in the strawberry fields. Brother is Castor Bacchae.**_

 _ **Castor Bacchae- Cabin Twelve/ Dionysus co-counselor. Attends Acoetes College of Agriculture in New Jersey. Would prefer to work with the Satyr team in the strawberry fields. Brother is Pollux Bacchae.**_

 _ **Nicolas "Nico" Di Angelo: Cabin Thirteen/ Hades co-counselor. Attends Westover Hall in Long Island. Bilingual. Prone to disappearing and appearing at odd times. Requires a co-counselor to work with the cabin in case he goes off on his own again.**_

 _ **Hazel Levesque: Cabin Thirteen/ Hades co-counselor. Attends St Agnes Academy in upstate New York. Has no preference for cabin activity assignments.**_

Chiron tosses the files into his cabinet and shuts it. He wheels himself into the elevator and travels outside to the porch. There are people coming down over the property line, lugging suitcases. They gather around the big house steps.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Camp Half Blood," Chiron says.

(Annabeth's POV)

I glance around at the people around me. The lanky boy to my right waves his hand in front of my face. I whirl around to face him. He seems like a punk, with a lip ring and an eyebrow piercing. I can see a scar coming from under his shirt, crawling up his neck. His hair is spiked up and messy, and his face is one of the most attractive I've ever seen. He's got sharp features, wide blue-green eyes, and a straight nose.

"What cabin are you in?" he says.

"Six. Err, I mean Athena," I say.

"I'm in Poseidon," he says.

"I'm Annabeth," I say.

"Percy," he says. _That name sounds familiar. Where have I seen this boy before?_

"So, I'm assuming you don't know about the rivalry?" I say.

"What rivalry?" He says as we start heading to our cabins.

"Like thirty years ago, there was a competition to see what cabin got to name the highest point of the camp. At the end, only the Poseidon cabin and Athena cabin were left. The Athena cabin won, and to this day, the Poseidon cabin insists that they cheated. We haven't gotten along since," I say.

"That sucks. I hope we can get along though. Chiron says that we're going to be working together a lot, especially on trips," he says. We get to his cabin. He opens the door and goes inside.

"Oh, why's that?" I say, leaning on the door frame.

"I'm a bit of a _troubled_ teenager," he says.

"I'm interested. You'll have to tell me all about it after I unpack," I say.

"Alright. I'll meet you by the campfire with everyone else," he says. I wheel my bags down to cabin six and start setting up. There are cobwebs in the corners, and I see a few black dots moving across the floor. I scream, and a girl with cropped black hair and a leather jacket runs in.

"What's wrong?" She says. I point to the spiders and scream even louder. She stomps on the creatures with her heavy boots.

"Sorry, I'm arachnophobic," I say.

"It's okay. I'm Thalia. I'm in cabin eight," she says.

"I'm Annabeth," I say.

"We should probably head to the campfire," Thalia says. We walk out onto the dirt path. There's loud laughter coming from the campfire. Clarisse is cleaning her nails with a pocket knife. She circles the campfire and stops in front of me.

"Where's that Luke kid you always hung out with?" She says. I flinch at his name.

"Far away from me, I hope," I whisper, my mind traveling to a different place. I know the place. It haunts my nightmares every day. I can still hear my screams, begging him not to do it, telling him no, screaming for help. Nobody ever came.

"Annabeth, you okay? You kind of _froze_ for a while, and were repeating the word 'stop' over and over again," Thalia says. I nod slowly.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I mutter, taking a seat on a log. I feel a tear drop into my lap. _He just had to take away my ability to feel safe in my own skin._ A tanned hand rests on my shoulder. I squirm away.

"Sorry Annabeth. Didn't mean to scare you," Percy says, picking at a scar on his forearm. I sigh in relief.

"Hey Fish Face," Thalia says.

"Hey Pinecone Face. How's my favorite female cousin?" he says.

"Try your _only_ female cousin," she scoffs.

"So technically, you're my favorite," he says with a grin. His smile is lopsided, and filled with small imperfections.

"So where's Jason? You two are practically inseparable!" she says.

"He's flirting with the counselor from ten. And failing _miserably_ ," he snickers. I giggle from behind my hand.

"How bad is it?" she says.

"Reyna times _ten_ ," he says, sitting beside me. Thalia laughs and leans back so far that she falls off the log. I gasp, and Percy laughs even harder.

"Hey, you okay?" I say.

"She'll be fine. She fell thirty feet out of a pine tree once," he says. His arm brushes against mine. Thalia mouths something to someone across the fire.

"So, you never did explain why I have to supervise you on trips," I say.

"Where to begin? Well, fourth grade, I accidentally dropped my whole class into the shark tank at Marine World. I got expelled, _again_ ," he says.

"Hold up, _again_? How many schools did you _go_ to?" I say. He counts on his fingers in silence.

"About nine schools, not including two preschools," he says.

"That's impressive," I say.

"So I told you about myself, what's your story?"he says.

"Don't have one," I shrug.

"Everyone has a story. Well, they do _end_ life with a story. If you don't, did you ever really live? I'll help you find yours. Of course, I will be featured as the devilishly handsome male friend," he says. I laugh so hard that I snort. Thalia gags.

"I'm gonna go bother the last cousin. See you," she says, getting up and walking over to a kid dressed in all black.

"You know, you should really smile more. It suits you," he says.

"I haven't smiled in years. Until today," I say.

"Why's that?" He asks. I cringe.

"I'm not ready to talk about what happened. I'm sorry," I whisper.

"Hey, it's okay. What do you want to talk about?" He says.

"I just want to forget about everything that happened before I came here. This is my fresh start," I say.

"This is the first place where I ever felt like I belonged. I'm looking for a fresh start too," he says.

"To fresh starts," I say.

"To fresh starts," he repeats. We tap plastic cups together and take a sip. Chiron clears his throat, and I pull my knees up to my chest.

"Alright counselors, we're going to go around and share our names and an interesting fact about ourselves. I'll start. I'm Chiron Brunner. I work as a teacher at Yancy Academy," he says.

"No way! I had him in sixth grade!" Percy says.

"My name is Katie Gardner. I volunteer at the community nature center where I live," the girl to Chiron's left says.

"My name is Leo Valdez. I love to build things," the boy to her left says.

"I'm Piper McLean. Yes, as in the actor Tristan McLean. I um, this is hard to admit, but I'm a bit of a kleptomaniac," the girl Thalia's brother was flirting with earlier says.

"I'm Jason Grace. I uh, I'm on my school's basketball team," Thalia's brother says.

"My name is Hazel Levesque. My mom works as a fortune teller in New Orleans," a girl with dark, curly hair says.

"I'm Thalia Grace. I have a fear of heights," Thalia says.

"I'm Nico Di Angelo. My cousins work here too, in three, eight, and one," the boy clad in all black says.

"I'm Travis Stoll. I love playing pranks," a boy with a mop of brown hair and a mischievous smile says.

"I'm Connor Stoll. I'm on my school's track team," the previous boy's brother says.

"I'm Clarisse La Rue. I've worked here for five years," Clarisse says. I zone out for awhile. Percy elbows me and I jump.

"Oh! I'm Annabeth Chase. I'm a member of the National Honor Society," I say.

"I'm Percy Jackson. Maybe you heard of me a few years back. I was that kid who got kidnapped about six years ago, and got in a gunfight with the guy that kidnapped me and two other kids," he says. People start to talk again.

"No way! I remember you now! I knew you looked familiar! I always wondered what happened to you after we got back to New York!" I say.

"You were the girl that was with me? Oh my god!" he says.

"You two know each other?" Thalia says.

"She was the girl I told you about when I got home!" Percy says.

"The one who kept you from getting killed?" Thalia says.

"That's me!" I say.

"I do totally owe you for keeping me from being killed," Percy says.

"Hey, what are friends for if not using a stolen casino charge card to trick a taxicab driver into driving us from Vegas to LA?" I deadpan. Percy laughs.

"And shoutout to Grover for busting those padlocks and knocking out those muggers!" He says.

"I wonder what happened to Grover?" I say.

"I heard that he's working at a camp," he says.

"Nice. we _have_ to catch up with him," I say.

"I haven't seen you in ages. What's been up with you?" he says.

"I've gone to East River Academy for Gifted Girls for the past year and a half. Before that, I went to A- Appleton H-high Sc-school," I stammer.

"Are you cold? You're shivering. Here," he says, giving me his leather jacket. I can see a tattoo curling around his bicep.

"Thanks," I say. Chiron wheels his way up to us.

"What's up Mr Brunner?" Percy says.

"I just realized that the infirmary is drastically understocked. I need two counselors to go into the city and pick up the supplies from the 24 hour Duane Reade on Fifth street. You two know Manhattan like the the backs of your hands, right? Chiron says.

"Yeah, why?" I say.

"We can go get it," Percy says.

"Argus will drive you into town. Here's the things you'll need," Chiron says, giving us a wad of bills and a list.

"Come on Annie, we've got to get going," Percy says. I shudder.

"Don't call me Annie," I say, getting to my feet. we walk up the path to the van.

"So, I'm going to need a nickname for you. How about Anna?" He says.

"No," I say.

"Beth? Bethie? Nerd? Smartie?" He says.

"I can tolerate Beth for now. Anything else is pushing it," I say boldly, shocking myself.

"There's the girl I remember," he says, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I shudder.

"Can you please not touch me?" I say quietly. My hair hangs in my eyes as I glance down at my shoes.

"Oh I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable! Does it have something to do with that Luke guy Clarisse mentioned?" He says, opening the car door for me. I flinch at the mention of his name.

"How'd you know?" I whisper.

"I learned to notice body language pretty early on to survive," he says, glancing down at his scarred arms.

"Oh right, your stepdad. How'd that turn out?" I whisper.

"After we came back, I took what you said to heart and told my mom what I thought of Gabe. She told me that he'd been hitting her too. But we can't get rid of him. He refuses to sign divorce papers, he transfers all of my mom's money to his private bank account so we have to depend on him, and he's friends with the police chief, so even if we wanted to press charges, we can't," he says with a frown.

"He sounded awful from what you told me," I say.

"So correct me if I'm wrong here. This Luke guy, you were pretty close?" he says. I nod shakily.

"We dated for a while." I shiver, pulling my knees up and into my chest. I yawn.

"If you want to take a nap, I'll wake you up when we get there, okay?" He says. I squeeze my eyes shut and drift off.

 _I'm at a party. I can feel the floor shaking around me with the beat of the music. Everyone's dancing and laughing except me. A hand taps my shoulder. I whirl around._

" _There you are Annie! I was looking all over for you!" Luke says with a wicked smile, his scar rippling. His normally blue eyes glow gold. I scream and try to run through the crowd, who are staring after me in shock. I throw open the door, and as I pass through, my outfit changes. My silvery dress morphs into a tank top and shorts. My hair is pulled back into a ponytail. Something is strapped to my hip. My ankle is splinted with a broken two by four and some bubble wrap. I reach down and pull out a glowing metal dagger. I see a bright light starting to round the corner, and hear footsteps and growls. A tall boy with messy dark hair steps out of the shadows. He's carrying a pen in his right hand and a flashlight in the other. His arm is bandaged with scraps of a blue shirt._

" _Wise girl, we need to go," he says. I finally get a good look at his eyes. They're a bright sea green._

" _Percy?" I say. The growl grows closer._

" _Sphinx. Get behind me, and hold on tight," he says, gripping the pen like a weapon._

" _What are you going to do with that pen?" I say. He uncaps it, and it expands into a huge sword. He passes me the flashlight and drapes my arm over his shoulders._

" _Okay Annabeth. We're going to have to run as fast as possible away from here before something else finds out where we are. Grover's fifty feet behind us, waiting in front of the entrance," He says._

" _What entrance?" I say. The creature steps into the light. It's got the head of a woman, but the body of a… well, I don't know. Percy lets out an inhuman howl and a huge wave of water rushes down the corridor, pushing the Sphinx right into the point of his sword. The monster screeches._

" _Fall back!" He screams. He yanks his sword out. I throw my knife. It hits the Sphinx right between the eyes. It falls to the ground, teeth bared in anger, then it explodes with a hiss. Dust flies everywhere. Removing my arm from around Percy's shoulder, I pick my knife up off the damp ground. "Come on Wise Girl. Let's get you some rest," he says with a smile, grabbing my hand. The scene changes again. Im kneeling underneath a giant boulder, barely holding it up. My hair is dirty and hanging in my face. On one end of the cave I'm in, the floor drops off into the darkness. Luke stands there, staring out at the ground below. Percy, and Thalia sneak in. Percy tiptoes over just as my arms start to give out._

" _Percy, help," I groan. He kneels beside me and helps me lift it. I collapse to the ground with exhaustion. Meanwhile, Thalia and Luke are fighting by the cliff. Luke's holding Thalia down at the edge of it. I can only watch in horror as Thalia twists and kicks Luke over the edge. I feel hands pulling at me and dragging me out from under the boulder, and when i look over, Percy's gone. I scream._

"Annabeth! Wake up!" Percy says, shaking my shoulder. I jump.

"Huh? What? Where are we? What happened?" I say.

"You were screaming in your sleep. Are you okay?" He says. He rubs at his forearm, and I see a couple of long horizontal scars.

"Yeah. Sorry about that," I say.

"Let's talk about something else. How's your family? You mentioned them once when we were in the animal transport truck," he says.

"I don't know. I haven't talked to them in over a year. After I got-" I start. I take a few shaky breaths, then I feel a hand on my back. "Well, after what happened to me, I got bullied all the time, and it made its way down to my half brothers. So my family left town. They enrolled me in a boarding school and moved to San Francisco." I say.

"I'm so sorry," he says. A bunch of tall buildings surround us.

"Oh look, there's my old apartment!" I say. The car slows to a stop, and Argus grunts.

"Do you think he's saying that we should get out?" Percy says. I nod.

"It's a ten minute walk from here to the store. Let's go," I say. We climb out of the car and Percy takes my hand.

"We're close to Gabe's usual haunt. Stay close." he mutters. I frown. We walk in silence for a while. Well, Percy walks. His legs are so long that I practically have to jog to keep up. I see a girl from my old school walking into a store. The voices in my head start to drone again. _Slut. Whore. You asked for it. Liar. Snitch. Bitch. Stupid. Tramp. Filthy. Jealous. Slob. Pig._ The words swirl around and around in my mind. I wrap my free arm around my midsection and hunch over a bit, in an effort to shield myself from the cruel words. "Are you alright?" He says again. I snap out of my catatonic state.

"Honestly? I don't know," I say. A man with an eyepatch hurries past, and bumps into my shoulder. He stumbles, but manages to right himself.

"Hey, watch where you're going asshole!" Percy barks. The man looks up. My blood runs cold.

"Ethan?" I whisper in horror.

"No way. Annabeth Chase? The former slut of Appleton High?" Ethan says, a smirk upon his face.

"I-I'm not a slut," I murmur, looking down at my shoes. Percy's grip on my hand tightens.

"Look, I don't know who you are, but leave her alone," Percy growls, releasing my hand and stepping between us.

"Percy don't," I plead, stepping back in front of him and burying my face in his chest. He smells of sea water and cookies and leather. It feels like home.

"So I see you didn't tell him, huh Chase?" Ethan sneers.

"There's nothing to tell," I say feebly.

"Beth, I have a feeling that this is related to whatever happened to you. I'm not going to pry, but if this guy is upsetting you, I know a way out," Percy whispers.

"Oh, so you didn't tell your little friend here about how you hooked up with the whole football team at that party on that Sunday? Luke saw you!" Ethan says.

"That's a lie. I never did that," I start, shivering. I ball my hands up into fists, noticing the excess leather of the jacket bunching up.

"Look buddy, just leave her alone," Percy tries. His voice is steely calm. I start to feel my chest constricting as panic overtakes me.

"Who even are you?" Ethan says.

"I'm her boyfriend. Have been for about a year. Now leave her alone before I drag you into that alley over there and show you what I do to people who mess with her," Percy snaps. His eyes are darkened in fury.

"Oh shit. Sorry man!" Ethan says, before running off.

"Are you okay?" He says, leaning down so he's at my eye level.

"I'm not a slut," I whisper.

"I know Bethie, I know," he says, rubbing my back.

"Why'd you tell him that you're my boyfriend?" I say. We continue to walk.

"He was eyeing you up like you were just a piece of meat. I figured that you didn't want that," he stammers. I giggle and kiss his cheek.

"My hero," I say. His face turns red. I push open the door to the pharmacy and step inside with Percy hot on my heels.

"Hello?" Percy calls. There's shuffling noises in the back.

"Back here," a voice yawns. We walk over to the voice, a sleepy eyed man with a name tag that reads 'Morpheus'. I step behind Percy.

"We're here to pick up an order for Chiron Brunner. He called ahead," I stammer. The clerk picks up a large box and shoves it into a big bag with the company logo on it. Percy hands him the cash. I shove my hands into the pockets of the leather jacket and feel my hand close around a cold object.

"Have a nice day," Morpheus says. We slink out through the door and back into the city.

"You know, you've changed a lot since we last saw each other," Percy says as we weave through the crowds.

"People change. You've changed too," I say.

"You used to be this super strong badass girl, and six years later, you're this skinny little shy girl who looks like the breeze could knock you over. What happened?" He says.

"Six years ago, you were a scrawny little sarcastic kid with a temper, and now you're… this," I say, gesturing to him.

"Yeah… makes people avoid me. It's kind of weird. I'm still the same guy, I just dress differently." He says. I notice the three rings in the top of his ear.

"Well, I like it. I might just have to keep you around to keep people away from me," I joke. He glares at me.

"Very funny. If any of my band mates see me with you, I'll never hear the end of it," he deadpans.

"What do you play?" I say.

"Guitar," he says.

"And if your friends rag on you for hanging around me, you shouldn't have to be ashamed. We're old friends," I say.

"Still, where I go to school, a punk like me befriending a blonde girl like you?" He starts.

"What do you mean _like me_?" I interrupt.

"You're literally wearing a flower crown. A _pink_ flower crown," he says, poking the pink roses in my hair.

"Shut up. So I'm a little girly. So what? I could still kick your ass with nothing but my bare hands and a shoelace," I say.

"I don't doubt it," he chuckles as we stop in front of the camp van.

"Can't believe it's been five years since the kidnapping," I say.

"It's been a long time. Can you believe that you used to be taller than me? And now I've got a foot on you," he says as Argus begins the drive back to camp.

"It's not my fault that you're like six foot four! I happen to be perfectly average height!" I protest, leaning on his arm. My heartbeat quickens, like it does anytime I touch a boy since that party. I cringe and wait for the panic to settle in, but it doesn't come. I glance up at Percy's sleeping face, and smile when I notice the drool at the corner of his lip. _He's still the same boy I used to know. He's not like Luke. He won't hurt me like everyone else did._ He mutters in his sleep and begins to toss and turn. "Percy?" I say, shaking his shoulder. He jolts and rubs his eyes.

"What's up?" He says.

"You were having a nightmare. Also, you still drool in your sleep," I say. He blushes and rubs the corner of his mouth.

"Ah, memories," he says.

"Isn't that the first thing I ever said to you?" I say.

"Actually you said 'he's the one. He must be.' But telling me that I drooled was a pretty close second," he shrugs.

"You remember," I smile.

"Of course I do," he says.

"Remember that time you blew a hole in the St Louis Arch?" I snicker, running my fingers across the swirly script along his arm.

"Or that time you played with that guard dog to distract it so I could get us plane tickets to try and escape?" He says. I blush.

"Oh hush. Remember Waterland?" I say, squinting to make out what his tattoo says.

"It says Sally," he says.

"Huh?" I say.

"That tattoo. It says Sally," he says.

"How many do you have?" I say.

"Six. Mom says that it's my body, so I can do whatever I want to it," he says.

"What are your tattoos of? What do they mean?" I say, tracing over the black wave motif along his upper arm.

"Well, I have an anchor on my ribcage to represent-" he starts.

"Your biological dad, who was lost at sea when you were six months old," I blurt out. _Why do I remember that?_

"You remembered? Anyways, the waves on my arms are for Montauk, where my mom and I go when we need to get away from Gabe. Sally, obviously my mom. There's a trident on my back in honor of the bedtime stories my mom would tell me about a boy who was the son of the Greek god Poseidon, the day we got rescued from that kidnapper in Roman numerals on the back of my neck, and the number of the plane that my grandparents died on. That's on my other arm. I never knew them, but it just felt right," he says.

"Cool. I was thinking about tattooing a pair of wings between my shoulder blades and a little tattoo of a compass on my wrist," I say.

"That's cool. I hope my mom is okay. She's at home all alone with Gabe," Percy says.

"If there's one thing that I know about Sally Jackson, it's that she's a fighter. She's gonna be okay. If she's like you say she is, then she's going to make it," I say.

"Thanks. Remember how much we hated each other when we first met?" Percy says. His fingers weave into my waist length blonde curls.

"I thought you were impulsive and overly sarcastic. I still do," I say. He rolls his eyes.

"And I thought that you were a bossy know it all. Now, you seem terrified of me, and of guys in general. Which sucks, because you don't need to be. I'd never hurt you. I only hurt people who hurt innocent people," he says.

"Aww, the punk has a conscience," I coo.

"Shut up, nerd," he says. I pout, sticking out my bottom lip and let my eyes begin to tear up.

"Nerd?" I whimper.

"Oh fuck. I-I meant it as a compliment I swear!" He stammers. I smirk, and then I start to laugh.

"You should have seen your face!" I cackle.

"You are _evil_ ," he says. I laugh harder. He scowls.

"Yep. I am evil Perce," I shrug.

"We all have an evil streak," he says. I yawn and lean on his chest, shutting my eyes. I can hear his heartbeat speed up. He waits a moment, then another, before moving his arm so that it's around my waist. I fall asleep, and for the first time in a long time, there are no nightmares.

I wake up when Percy jumps. Argus is standing outside of the drivers side door. Percy's hands are balled into fists.

"What's wrong Perce?" I say.

"Reflex. Anytime anyone slams a door, I tend to get defensive," he says sheepishly.

"Argus isn't going to hurt you. It's okay. You're safe," I say.

"It's so nice to be able to talk about this stuff. You and Grover are the only ones that know about Gabe. The others just think that I have scars from stupid accidents, like falling off my bike or my board," he says.

"You're the only one who knows about my mom," I say.

"I'm sorry to pry, but what was Luke like?" He says as we walk up over the property line.

"He was the exact opposite of you. He was short, blond, and preppy, and pale, and _awful_. The six months I was with him were some of the worst days of my life," I blurt out. My eyes widen. _Ugh I have no filter when I'm tired. Might as well tell him. He's suspicious now._

"How bad was he?" Percy says.

"He used to- well," I say, raising my shirt to show a scar on my stomach.

"He _hit_ you?" He says, looking furious.

"Only if I deserved it. Which I usually did. I never could do things the way he wanted," I say quietly.

"You don't deserve that," he says.

"One time, he asked me for -you know-, and I said no. He dragged me out back, and he-" I say before breaking down into tears. Percy swears.

"What did he do? Annabeth what did he do to you?" He says, crouching so he's at my eye level.

"H-he forced me to-" I sob.

"Did he rape you?" He whispers. I nod slowly. He swears loudly and punches the tree to his right.

"That bastard. That _scumbag_. Does anyone else know?" He says.

"When I went to the cops, they said that I shouldn't have been wearing such short shorts," I say quietly.

"Bullshit. You can wear whatever you want," he says.

"That scar I showed you came from me trying to break up with him after that. He had bets running with guys all over the school, and if they won, he'd sneak them into my room at night while I was asleep and let them do whatever they wanted to me," I sob, covering my face with the sleeves of the jacket so I don't have to see the disgusted look on Percy's face.

"Annabeth-" he starts.

"I know, I know, I'm a slut, I'm disgusting, and you don't want to be seen with me anymore. It's okay. I get it. Nobody wants to be seen with a whore like me, anyways," I say sadly before turning away and trudging towards my cabin. I hear a thud, then footsteps on dirt behind me.

"Annabeth, that's not what I was going to say! You're not disgusting! You're not a slut, it's not your fault. Luke is the worst human being alive if he could do something like that to someone like you," Percy says from behind me.

"Like me?" I say.

"Someone as sweet, and funny, and smart, and kind, and pretty as you. You don't deserve that. I'm gonna track this guy down and kick his ass into next century for what he put you through," he says.

"Why didn't I fight harder? Why did nobody notice that I was screaming for help? Why did I wear those stupid shorts? What was I thinking?" I mutter, sliding down the cabin wall. Sobs wrack my body, and I cover my mouth to muffle my cries.

"It's okay. You're okay. You're safe now. He can't find you here. You're never going to see him again," he says, sitting next to me and pulling me into his chest. I sob even harder.

"Why are you being so nice to me? If I were you, I'd want nothing to do with me," I sob.

"Beth," he starts.

"I hate myself! I'm such a skank! I'm just a fucking idiot that can't keep people from abandoning me or taking advantage of me! My mom doesn't want me, my dad doesn't want me, my stepmom doesn't want me, nobody _ever_ wants me around! It'd be so much easier if I just disappeared," I sob.

"I want you around, nerd! The people that let you down clearly don't see the girl I saw, and the girl I still see! Running doesn't make things go away, believe me, I know. If you give up on yourself, well, then Luke's won. And he can never win. People like him shouldn't win. People like you should," he says, stroking my head.

"What do you even see in me? I'm just a basket case with PTSD and a host of other problems," I say.

"Honey so am I. We're just two crazy kids trying to make it through this. But you know what I thought of you at first? I thought 'wow. This girl is brave. She's going to fight her way out of here and I want to be on her side'. Because you, Annabeth Chase, have no idea just how amazing you are," he says. I laugh, a bitter, hollow sound.

"I am _not_ amazing," I scoff.

"Did you or did you not weave hammocks for us out of old rugs while we were held captive? And did you not manage to steal most of that kidnappers ammo? Annabeth, you are one of the bravest girls I've ever met, and if someone could destroy you of all people, well, then there isn't any hope left for the world," he says.

"Thanks," I say, leaning on his shoulder. He kisses my forehead, and I smile.

"We have to be up bright and early tomorrow for first day activities. I'll see you tomorrow," he says.

"Thank you. For everything you ever did for me. I owe you my life," I say. He gets up, and stretches. His shirt rides up in the front, exposing the waistband of his boxers, and a small strip of skin.

"Hey, I owe you my life too. Don't discount yourself," he says.

"Do you want your jacket back?" I say.

"Not right now. You probably need it more than I do," he says.

"Have a good night," I say.

"You too," he says over his shoulder as he walks away. I walk into my cabin and get ready for bed, before tucking myself in with a book. I pass out as soon as my head hits the pillow.

 _I'm standing in front of the Williamsburg Bridge, watching as crowds of people and horrifying creatures attempt to make their way across. I glance down and see that I'm wearing black camouflage, with a dagger strapped to my arm. My combat boots are laced up tightly, and my hair is pulled up into an insanely messy bun. Percy stands beside me, holding a sword out. His clothing is ripped to shreds, but he doesn't have a scratch on him. His face is angry and dirty, and he glares across the bridge._

" _Any ideas?" He says._

" _Apollo cabin! get up high and start sniping them! Percy, you and I take out whatever's left," I say._

" _Don't I get a kiss for luck? It's kind of a tradition, right?" He says. The Apollo cabin jeers in the background. I roll my eyes._

" _Come back alive Seaweed Brain, then we'll see," I say, drawing my knife. Then we advance, hacking things to pieces. Percy's sword is just a three foot wide arc of pure destruction. We slash and dodge as things fall to the ground with arrows buried in them. Then it's over. Everything is gone, except for us. The bridge is weakened. Percy whoops and lifts me up, spinning me around. I laugh, and the Apollo cabin cheers from wherever they are. Percy's lips touch mine, and the yelling grows even louder. I hear a rumbling, then the bridge crumbles. Percy and I fall. Percy's somehow holding onto me with one hand, and a stabilized piece of asphalt with the other._

" _Are you okay? Hang on, we're coming to get you!" An apollo camper says. Percy whistles loudly._

" _Let go Percy! You have to! You can't hold me up!" I say._

" _Are you crazy? I'm never letting you go, Wise Girl!" He says._

" _You're the hero of the prophecy, not me! You're necessary to the cause! I'm not! Let me go!" I say. His arm is starting to shake from the strain. A black streak passes by below us._

" _Blackjack! A little help?" Percy yells. A horse with black wings hovers underneath us, and slowly flies up, letting me clamber onto its back. Percy lets go of the asphalt and falls onto the horse. I smile, and Blackjack flies off towards the Empire State Building._

A loud beep jolts me out of my dream, and I sit up.

"Okay Annabeth. First day. You can do this," I say, before getting out of bed. I go for the shower, get dressed, and do my makeup. Then I head out to the big house for a counselor meeting. As I pass by Percy's cabin, I hear slight groans. I push open the door and tiptoe in. Percy is sprawled across the mattress, drooling. I shake him awake. "Get up, you big lug! We have a counselor meeting in twenty minutes!" I say. He sits up with a start, and the covers fall off of him. He's wearing a pair of blue flannel pajama pants and no shirt.

"Annabeth, how are you feeling today?" He says, grabbing his stuff and heading for the shower.

"I don't suppose you could forget what I told you?" I say. The water runs.

"Beth, I understand. I do. You don't want to be treated differently because of what happened to you," he says.

"Thanks," I say. He comes out a few minutes later, wearing destroyed black skinny jeans and a tank top that says 'save the dolphins'. His scarred arms are exposed. I tug on the sleeves of my kimono, and trudge outside.

"Where's the meeting?" he says.

"Big house. Second floor," I say, noticing the other counselors. A girl with choppy brown hair, wearing a pair of beat up sneakers and ratty clothes jogs up to me.

"Hey, Annabeth, right?" she says.

"Yeah," I say.

"I'm Piper," She says.

"This is Percy," I say, gesturing to the yawning boy behind me.

"Oh, you're the girl who was talking to Jason last night! I'm one of his cousins," he says.

"You look nothing like him. I was thinking you were related to those two other black haired counselors," she says.

"Who, Thalia and Nico? I am. Thalia is Jason's sister," he says.

"You're kidding," she says. Percy's phone rings.

"Oh crap! I have to take this," he says.

"So how do you know Percy?" she says.

"We're old friends. We met when we were both kidnapped," I say.

"Oh, you were kidnapped too?" she says.

"Yeah," I say.

"That sucks," she says, her voice trailing off.

"It's fine. You don't know how to respond to that. I get it. Yeah, it was hard, but I met Percy and Grover, and I wouldn't trade them for anything," I say.

"So you consider yourself very close with the two of them?" She says, walking towards the stairs.

"I'm personally closer with Percy. Grover's four years older than the two of us, so he's more like our older brother. Percy is easily one of the best friends I've ever had. Being kidnapped, well, it was hard. We did everything we could to distract each other and keep it positive," I say.

"Sounds like you really love Percy," she says.

" _I did this because I love you and I don't want anyone else to have you." Luke says. I cover my partially naked body with the remnants of my shorts and sob. Luke grabs my face, and forces me to kiss him. My tears flow faster. "You are mine, you hear me?" He says._

" _Yes Luke," I whimper, cowering in the corner. My entire body aches with the feeling of violation._

" _I want to be your first everything," he says._

" _You are," I say, feeling the bile rise up in my throat. That's a lie. My first kiss was with Percy Jackson when he was about to fight off our kidnapper, but I can't tell him that or he'll hurt me even more. Luke walks away, and I vomit. I cower there, soaked in my own sick and my tears. The world stops spinning, and I race home to scrub every inch of my skin until I feel clean. The clean never comes. Tears drip down my cheeks as I sit alone in my room, wearing the most comfortable clothes I own, feeling my body bruise and bleed. My head pounds, and blood rushes in my ears._ A set of long arms wrap around my body, and I start to sob.

"Shh, shh, you're safe. He can't get you, not while I'm here," Percy mutters. I sob harder and start to breathe heavier.

"Why, even after everything that he did to me, do I miss him so much?" I sob, hating myself more and more with each passing second.

"He may have ruined you, but before everything went to shit, how did he make you feel?" He says.

"He made me feel… wanted. Cared for. Like someone actually noticed that I was alive," I sniffle.

"Good. Admitting that you miss how he made you feel in the beginning is the first step to healing," he says.

"You could really be a therapist," I say, as we walk into the room. There are more people that are missing, so we sit down on the couch. Percy puts his head in my lap, just like he used to do. My fingers weave through his hair.

"Nervous?" He says.

"A little. What if the campers don't like me? What if their parents don't like me?" I say.

"Chase, you're literally one of the coolest girls I know-" he starts.

"Only behind your mother and Thalia," I interrupt.

"If these kids don't like you, I'll be shocked," he says.

"Thanks Jackson. Do you worry about the parents being scared to leave their kids with you all summer?" I say.

"Why?" He says.

"With this whole skate punk, kind of emo, rebel look you've got here, parents get a bit distrustful," I say.

"You're right, as usual. I swear, you always know just how people will react to me," he says.

"I mean, I'm not always right. I thought you were going to die in than gunfight," I say.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," he grumbles.

"Hey, look at it from my point of view! Scrawny twelve year old with no firearm training versus a ripped thirty something who'd been using firearms longer than we were alive. By all accounts, you should have lost," I say.

"I thought I was going to die, honestly. But I wanted to give you a chance to escape," he says.

"You scared the shit out of me. Don't you _ever_ do that again," I say. Percy smiles, then blushes bright red.

"Remember the kiss?" He says.

"We are not speaking of that," I say. My face heats up.

"I just wanted to say thanks," he says. Chiron clears his throat.

"Good morning counselors. Today is our first day of camp. Now, upon the arrival of our families, you will be spending two hours talking to both your campers and their families. After that, we will be giving them a tour. I'd like to remind you all to watch what you say and do around our impressionable youngsters. No foul language is permitted, no crude gestures, and no explicit conversation. We strive to make our campers feel at home, so please be as welcoming as possible. Does anyone else have anything they'd like to add for the good of the group?" Chiron says. I hesitantly raise my hand.

"Remind the parents to give campers money for trips and the snack bar," I say.

"Good idea," Chiron says.

"Don't be afraid to ask other counselors for help," Hazel says.

"Good. Now we have a complimentary breakfast for you, and then you're free to explore the camp until the campers start to arrive at 12:30," Chiron says. We all rise and amble down to the pavilion. Breakfast is a crazy affair, full of laughter, stories, shouts, and teasing. Percy sits across from me, shovelling food into his mouth. Piper and Hazel, seated on either side of me, are laughing over some story that Lou Ellen from Hecate Cabin is telling. I smile. At the other end of the table, Travis and Connor Stoll are telling some joke about two snakes on a staff. I finish my food and get up. Percy eyes the basketball court.

"Race you to the courts?" He says.

"You're on," I say. We sprint towards the court, laughing. Percy whoops and cheers as he pulls ahead. I speed up and scramble up onto his back. He yelps at the sudden added weight and stumbles. We crash to the ground, rolling through the grass, laughing all the while.

"Ow," he groans.

"That hurt," I murmur. I stand up, before laughing at the grass tangled throughout his hair.

"The kids should be here in oh, about an hour and a half. Wanna play basketball?" He says, getting to his feet.

"If I remember correctly, you were pretty good at basketball," I say, pulling my hair up.

"You're looking at the captain of Goode High's junior varsity basketball team two years running," he smirks.

"Hmm. I would not have pegged you as a jock," I say.

"There's a lot that you don't know about me," he says, dribbling.

"Same here," I say, stealing the ball from his grasp and running for the basket. My sneakers scuff along the concrete, and I shoot for a three pointer. The ball rolls around the rim in a lazy, slow circle. It slowly passes through the hoop, and I cheer.

"Nice shot Chase," he says, wiping sweat off of his brow.

"Thanks," I pant. Percy grabs the ball and runs for the other basket. He shoots, then cheers as the ball passes through the hoop.

"Christ, it's hot out here." he pants. I feel my body starting to sweat. The game continues, pausing only for water breaks and for Percy to peel off his shirt. I swipe the ball from his grasp and run. "Hey! You're traveling!" I laugh and do a little jig, holding the ball to my chest.

"Oh yeah?" I smirk, before turning and running again. Percy laughs and follows. I feel his arms wrap around me and pull me into his sweaty chest. I squeal and laugh as my feet leave the ground. We spin around, and I kick my legs out. I hear the sound of dozens of footsteps in the grass.

"Somebody's coming," he gasps. My feet hit the ground, and his arms loosen their grip. I pull my hair out of its messy bun and let it tumble back to my waist. I tug on a curl nervously. The ball is tucked under my arm. Percy smacks it out of my grasp and runs.

"Why-" I start.

"Just watch this!" He says. He sprints towards the hoop and leaps up, dunking the ball. I clap, still surprised at how easily he did that.

"How did you? Oh wait. This hoop isn't regulation height. Right," I say.

"Dammit, Bethie! Just once could you let me _try_ to look cool?" He says. I laugh, and desperately try to look anywhere other than Percy's bare chest and his six pack. A group of families come up the hill.

"Oh hi! Welcome to Camp Half Blood! I'm Annabeth Chase, head of the Athena Cabin," I say with a wave. Percy steps beside me.

"Percy Jackson, head of the Poseidon cabin." He says. The parents stare at him in shock. I glance over and notice that his shirt is missing, exposing his tattoos, scars, and the waistband of his underwear. I slip away from the crowd and grab his shirt. Percy chats calmly with the the parents. I ball up the black tank top and lob it at his head. "Ah! What the f-"

"Language!" I interrupt.

"Thanks," he says, putting on his shirt.

"Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. Where have I heard those names before?" One of the parents says. Another gasps.

"Wait. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase? As in two of the three victims of the most famous kidnapping case in the past ten years?" They say. Percy rubs the back of his neck, and I look around nervously, my arms crossed over my chest.

"Err-yes?" I say.

"I assume that you're looking for the orientation?" Percy says.

"That's in the ampitheatre. We'll take you," I say. Percy nods and shoves his hands into his pockets. We start our little tour in silence, but the group is loud.

"Everyone, this is the strawberry field. Here at Camp, we make extra money by selling strawberries to local farmers markets and supermarket chains under the name 'Delphi Strawberries'," Percy says.

"Any extra strawberries will be given to the children and staff. And if you look closely, you can see the Satyr team in the field. The Satyr team kind of help out around camp, doing little jobs here and there, like watching the campers during counselor meetings, handling mail, collecting necessary camp materials, keeping track of camper files, and of course working in the strawberry field," I say.

"No way. Is that Grover?" Percy says. "Grover!" He yells, cupping his hands around his mouth. A boy with curly brown hair and a wispy beard looks up and stumbles up the hill.

"Grover! How are you? I haven't seen you in years!" I say wrapping my arms around his waist.

"Percy? Annabeth? I almost didn't recognize you! How have you been?" He says.

"Oh you know, the usual," Percy says, coming over.

"Pretty normal," I say.

"The gang's all here, huh G-man?" Percy says.

"I missed you guys," Grover says.

"Us too," I say.

"I gotta get back to work or Leneus will have my head. See you later?" Grover says.

"Definitely," I say.

"Now on with the tour!" Percy says. We continue walking.

"Now here is the big house. It's where we go on rainy days, the headquarters for Chiron and the Oracle-" I say.

"The oracle?" One of the parents says.

"The oracle is in charge of all camp trip activities. She has all waivers and permission slips, along with funds for each camper. The oracle is just a nickname. I believe that she's coming in from St Clarion's Ladies Academy tomorrow. Her name is Rachel Elizabeth Dare," I say.

"No way. RED is the oracle? Oh no," Percy says.

"What's wrong with that?" I snap.

"Rachel is my ex. Dumped me when she got shipped off to Clarion's," he mutters.

"Oh," I say.

"Chiron is the camp director. He oversees everything that goes on in this camp, along with Mr D, our activities director. He runs all activities inside the camp," Percy says.

"Stolls!" Katie yells, carrying a box full of orange fabric. The roof of the Demeter cabin is covered in chocolate Easter bunnies.

"Trav, Connor! That shi- _stuff_ \- will melt!" Percy barks.

"Clean it up!" I say.

"Anyways, so up that hill is the Athena Parthenos. It's named after Annabeth's cabin, because there was a competition during our first summer, and the Athena cabin won. It doesn't really do anything, but in case of an emergency, we always meet at the Parthenos," Percy says.

"And to our left is the infirmary. That's run by Will, our resident medic. He's CPR certified, has access to all of the campers medical records, etc. if it's a real emergency, Will is going to send your child to the emergency room and call you," I say.

"To your right is the forge. Now, we don't make weapons, but any metal work your child does will be done there. It's mainly simple stuff. The forge also has a sculpture and woodcarving area," Percy says.

"And down the hill are our cabins. There are fourteen cabins, each run by a counselor. The Ares, Dionysus, Hades, and Hermes cabins have two counselors. Clarisse from Ares is only here for half the summer, and Hermes is our most populated cabin, hence the extra counselor," I say.

"And over there is the canoe lake and Long Island sound. Your child will be supervised over there by yours truly," Percy says, pointing off into the distance.

"Not to worry folks, he's a certified lifeguard," I say.

"Down the hill to the left is the mess hall. We serve three hot meals a day here, and for holidays, birthdays, and weekends, we serve dessert. On visiting days, we take you to the mess hall," Percy says.

"Down the hill to the right is the amphitheatre. Camp talent shows and announcements take place there," I say.

"And behind that amphitheatre, we have the forest. We play team games like capture the flag there. Campers are banned from the forest unless there is a counselor with them," Percy says.

"Alright, so the orientation video and activities are down the hill to the right. Percy and I have to get to work. Enjoy!" I chirp. The families stagger down the hill in a shuffling blob, along with campers and parents that apparently were following behind us. We walk back up to the big house and get our lists of assigned campers. We shuffle back and forth between the big house and our respective cabins, bringing luggage back and forth. After that, the counselors unanimously decide to chill in the big house, around a ping pong table. I'm playing some card game with Hazel, Piper, Thalia, Jason and Frank. Nico and Will are looking through Chiron's music collection, Leo and the Stolls are tinkering with the video games, Lou Ellen is doing some sort of sleight of hand trick, Clarisse is tossing a tennis ball up and down, the counselor from Hera is reading a book alone in the corner, Katie is doodling some flowers on camp welcome letters, the two Dionysus campers are talking about the strawberry farm, and Percy is tuning the acoustic guitar we use at campfire.

"Yes! I win! Suck on that bitches!" Thalia yells, throwing her cards down. I bite my tongue and look around nervously. Percy flinches and looks up. I sigh and stand, stretching out.

"I'll be right back," I say. I walk over to Percy and sit down near his feet.

"You okay?" He says, pulling me into his chest. I just sit in silence for a few moments.

"Luke used to say that anytime he-" I start. Percy puts down the guitar and squeezes me tight.

"I'm so sorry," he says.

"Don't be. It's not your fault," I say, glancing up at him. Our legs tangle together.

"Still, I can call in a few favors and have a few thugs at his door in three hours," he says.

"Do I even want to know?" I say, poking at his nose.

"Nah," he says.

"I saw you flinch earlier," I say.

"It's nothing. Just a flashback. No big deal," he says.

"Perseus Jackson, your mental state is a _huge_ deal," I start.

"I regret telling you my real name," he groans. My phone goes off. _Video call from: Matthew_. I press accept.

"Annie!" My little brothers say.

"Hey boys," I chuckle.

"Who's that behind you?" Bobby says bluntly.

"Oh, this is Percy. Perce, say hi to the twins," I say.

"Sup," he says.

"Are you _the_ Percy?" Matthew says.

"What do you mean ' _the_ Percy'? Aww Bethie, you talk about me?" He smirks.

"Shut up," I say.

"Dad says hi by the way, " Bobby says.

"Hey Annabeth? If you're done canoodling with Percy, can we get back to the game?" Piper says, raising her voice to be heard above the chatter.

"Annie has a boyfriend! Annie has a boyfriend! Annie has a boyfriend!" The twins chant in unison.

"I do not! Tell them Perce!" I protest.

"We're just old friends. Not dating. Nope," he says, shaking his head.

"Time to greet our campers!" Will chirps, looking out the window.

"Gotta go. Love you, bye!" I say before ending the call. Percy and I get to our feet, and his arm automatically drapes across my shoulders.

"Ready to go?" He says.

"Get your armpit out of my face," I huff, getting a whiff of deodorant and sweat.

"Get your face out of my armpit," he says.

"Get better comebacks Jackson, then we'll talk," I say, twisting out of his grasp.

"Well aren't you just a wise-" he starts, as I push open the door.

"A wise what, Percy?" I smirk.

"Girl?" He says feebly.

"Sure Perce," I say.

"Just because of that, I'm making that an official nickname for you," he snickers. I groan and roll my eyes.

"Alright families, in going to go around and have our counselors introduce themselves and tell you their cabin number and name. We'll start with cabin one. Jason, would you please step forward?" Chiron says. Jason steps forward.

"I'm Jason Grace. I'm sixteen, and I run the Zeus cabin, otherwise known as cabin one," Jason says. He steps back into the row of counselors. The Hera counselor steps forward.

"Juno Temenus. Twenty one. I run the Hera cabin, otherwise known as cabin two," she says. I notice her shirt has a peacock on it when she steps back into the line. Percy swaggers forward.

"Percy Jackson. Seventeen. I run the Poseidon cabin, or cabin three," Percy says. I finally see the Roman numerals on the back of his neck. He slinks back into the fold and grabs my hand. Katie steps forward.

"Katie Gardner. I'm eighteen. I run the Demeter cabin, otherwise known as cabin four," she says. She walks backwards, her gardening boots thumping on the ground. Clarisse and Frank step forward.

"I'm Clarisse La Rue. Twenty," Clarisse says. Every word she says sounds like she's jabbing you with each letter.

"And I'm Frank Zhang. Sixteen," Frank says.

"We lead the Ares cabin," Clarisse says.

"Otherwise known as cabin five," Frank says. He glances over at Hazel and smiles softly. They step back into line. I step forward, letting go of Percy's hand. I stand on the balls of my feet.

"I'm Annabeth Chase. Seventeen. I run the Athena cabin, or cabin six," I say with a smile. I whirl around and step back into line. Percy drapes an arm over my shoulder, and I scowl up at him. He flinches for a second, then snickers.

"Will Solace. Sixteen. Leader of cabin seven, otherwise known as the Apollo cabin," Will says. His voice is soothing, and I feel calmer. _He'd make a great doctor._ He steps back into line, his back ramrod straight. Thalia stomps forward.

"Thalia Grace. Eighteen. Leader of the Artemis cabin, or cabin eight," she says. She's toned down the punk look for now, wearing a plain gray shirt, blue flannel, and a plain pair of denim shorts. Her hair is brushed and semi neat, and her boots are both tightly tied. She looks uncomfortable, as if not dressing the way she normally does makes her feel odd. She steps back into line. Leo steps forward, snapping his suspenders with his thumbs. His trusty tool belt is slung low on his narrow hips.

"Leo Valdez, cabin nine, or Hephaestus for you campers. I'm sixteen," he says with that usual crazy grin on his face and mischief in his eyes. He steps back, his tool belt jingling with every step. Piper steps forward, fiddling with the eagle feather in her hair.

"I'm uh, Piper McLean. I'm sixteen, and I lead the Aphrodite Cabin, otherwise known as cabin ten," She says. Her voice is silky smooth and extremely persuasive. I could listen to her talk all day. She steps back into line, accidentally bumping Leo with her hip.

"I'm Travis, and that's Connor," One of the Stoll brothers says, pointing to the other.

"Stolls" Percy starts.

"Don't listen to them. The taller one is Travis," Katie frowns.

" _I'm_ Travis, and this is Connor. I'm eighteen and he's seventeen," Travis says.

"We lead cabin eleven, the Hermes cabin," Connor says. They step back again.

"I'm Castor Bacchae," Castor says.

"And I'm Pollux Bacchae," Pollux says.

"We're nineteen," they say in unison.

"And we lead cabin twelve," Pollux says.

"The Dionysus cabin," Castor says. Nico and Hazel step forward.

"I'm Nico Di Angelo, I'm fifteen," Nico says. His voice is eerily cold and emotionless.

"And I'm Hazel Levesque. I'm fifteen," Hazel chirps.

"We lead cabin thirteen, the Hades cabin," Nico says. Hazel waves to a little child standing up front. They step back into line. Lou Ellen steps forward.

"I'm Lou Ellen Blackstone. Seventeen. I lead cabin fourteen. The Hecate cabin," she says. She has a slight lisp, almost imperceptible.

"Wonderful! We're ahead of schedule! Now the counselors have already moved everyone's luggage into assigned cabins, so everyone will be meeting with their assigned counselors." Chiron says. "Cabin one, you will follow Jason up to the mess hall first." Chiron says. Percy moves behind me and slouches so that his chin rests on top of my head.

"Sheesh, you are _clingy_." I mutter. He tilts his face down and drops a kiss into my hair.

"Oh hush. You're my best friend," he says.

"You're mine too," I whisper.

"Cabin three, you will follow Percy up to the mess hall now," Chiron says.

"Bye Perce," I mutter.

"You two are adorable," Piper says from beside me.

"We're just friends," I stammer.

"Not for long," she says.

"Cabin six, you will leave for the mess hall with Annabeth now," Chiron says. I bounce down the stairs, nervously tugging on my hair.

"Alright everyone! Cabin six is Minerva Tyto, Malcolm Pace, George Washington, Penelope Odysseus, Angela Metis, Frederic Bartholdi, Eric Thonius, Matthew Daedalus, and Julia Pasiphaë. You nine and your families follow me!" I yell. They follow me out of the crowd, helped in part by my insanely recognizable wild blonde curls. We walk down to the mess hall and sit at the reserved cabin six table. "So, I'm Annabeth Chase. I'll be taking care of your children for the next ten weeks. Do any of you have any questions?" I say.

"What are your qualifications?" One mom says.

"Well, I did do six years of camp here myself. One of those was CIT training. I'm also a national honors society member, a certified babysitter, and a school certified tutor," I say.

"What does a normal day here look like?" A boy wearing a shirt with a snake on it says.

"Well, breakfast is at eight o'clock, between nine and ten o'clock is the first activity of the day. That varies depending on what day it is for each cabin. Ten to eleven is archery, eleven to noon is lunch, noon to one o'clock is team games, one to two is the tree top course and climbing wall, two to four is free time, four to five is an all camp beach activity, five to six is dinner, six to nine is cabin versus cabin games, nine to ten is campfire, and at ten o'clock we head back to our cabins and get ready for bed. Lights out is at eleven o'clock. We do cabin inspections every other day at eight in the morning. Whichever cabin gets the highest score gets an extra twenty minutes of free time that day," I say.

"Are there visiting days?" A man says.

"We have visiting days every few weeks. The next one is July twenty second," I say.

"Are there any camp parties?" A girl says.

"We do have our Fourth of July fireworks. It is the social/dating event of the summer. We hang out at the beach and watch the fireworks that Chiron and Mr D somehow manage to get every year. It's fun. Everyone kind of dresses up, mainly in red, white, and blue. It's pretty low key. We don't actually do anything that day besides set up and get ready for the party. There's music, games, and stuff like that." I say. I steal a glance over at Percy and smile softly.

"Um, are there any rules to remember?" A boy says.

"General camp rules are written down in every cabin. Is there anything else?" I say.

"Are there things that we're not allowed to have?" A girl says.

"Cell phone use is only allowed in the cabin, no weapons, no nuts, and that's about it. Anything else?" I say.

"What are the trips for the year?" A parent says.

"We do the Empire State Building, go up to Boston, see a show on broadway, the movies, we have a scavenger hunt in the city, and a free tour of the city. We also do Montauk once or twice," I say.

"What's it like being kidnapped?" A boy says. I look over at Percy. His eyes meet mine, and I smile.

 _You okay?_ He mouths. I nod.

 _Tell you later_ , I mouth back.

"I'd rather not talk about it right now. I'm still working through it. I work through what happened to me every day. I'm still learning, and that's alright," I say.

"Where's our cabin?" A boy with blond hair and gray eyes like mine says.

"Oh right! Follow me!" I say, getting to my feet. As we pass Percy's table, I kiss his cheek, making him freeze up and run his fingers across the spot where my lips brushed him. We walk up the hill to our cabin. On the front door, there's a little painting of an owl, our cabin symbol. "So this is the Athena cabin. I took the liberty of trying to spruce it up as much as I could, and written on the whiteboard over there are our rules. Number one: no foul language. Number two: no crude gestures. Number three: no boy and girl are allowed alone in a cabin unless they are a; a counselor and a camper, b; two counselors during cabin inspection, c; being watched by a camp leader. Beside that, I'll write our schedule for each day up there. What else? Oh yes! Beds! Each bed has clothing storage under it. There is also a trunk at the foot of each bed. Suitcases will be labeled with your name and cabin number and stored in the big house. To make things easier on us, half of the campers will shower at night, and the other half will shower in the morning. We'll switch off every week. I hope you enjoy your-" I say, getting cut off by a knock at the door. Percy pokes his head in.

"Hey Bethie, is it okay if I tell my cabin about the Athena/Poseidon feud?" Percy says.

"Yeah Perce, do whatever you want. It's your cabin," I say.

"Thanks babe!" He says as the door closes behind him. I groan and roll my eyes.

"The Athena Poseidon feud started during our first summer. Well, not my first summer, but the camp's first summer. There were two counselors. One from Athena and one from Poseidon. They had been arguing all summer. Apparently they used to date or something. Anyways, they were constantly trying to one up one another. This culminated in a camp competition to name the Parthenos. The Parthenos is the tallest point of the camp. Well, the Athena cabin won, giving it the title of the Athena Parthenos. The Poseidon counselor insisted that we cheated, and the fighting got even worse. Since then, the Poseidon and Athena cabins haven't gotten along," I say.

"Who was that punk that just came in?" One of the parents asks, looking suspicious.

"Oh! That was Percy Jackson, my partner in crime for the summer. He's a good guy. You can trust him," I say.

"He seems scary," one kid says.

"He's a total sweetheart. He and his cousins are here for the summer. You'll probably be able to spot two of the three. They're just like him except for eye color. The last one is over in cabin one," I say. Gleeson Hedge, one of the satyr team members, comes in.

"Hey cupcakes. I was told to escort the parents out of the camp, so say your goodbyes," he says, leaning on his baseball bat. Kids are crying, hugging their parents tightly. My heart hurts, knowing that my family is gone, not coming until the twenty second. I haven't seen them in over a year. I suppose that it's better this way. At least my brothers don't have to look at this mess that I've become. I don't even want to look at it, but I see it every time that I look in a mirror. Percy is the only one that knows. I know it's crazy, but I trust him. He's sweet, and kind, and good, and tough, but he'd never hurt me. Or at least, I hope he won't.

"Okay, so here's my phone number in case you need to contact me at any time. Your children are in good hands. Don't worry." I say. The door slams, and a boy whimpers. "Why don't we go around the room, and if you could tell me your name, age, and something you'd like to get out of this summer, that'd be great. And if you don't have something to say, that's okay too. Why don't I start? My name's Annabeth Chase. I'm seventeen. What I'm looking to get out of this summer is a fresh start." I say. The boy with the gray eyes and blond hair clears his throat.

"I'm Malcolm Pace. I'm eleven. What do I want this summer? The same as all of you, I guess. I want an adventure like the kind you read about in books," he says.

"Nice to meet you Malcolm. Oh! Are there any nicknames any of you would prefer to be called? If so, please tell us when it's your turn," I say.

"Uh, you can call me Mal, I guess. Or Malcolm. Either one is fine," Malcolm says.

"My name is Minerva Tyto. You can call me Minnie. I'm ten. I want to make friends this summer," Minnie says.

"I'm Eric Thonius. I'm twelve. I want to prove to my parents that I'm not as dependent as they think I am." Eric says.

"I'm Angela Metis. You can call me Ang or Angie. I'm thirteen. My goal for the summer is to figure out who I want to be," Angela says.

"My name is Matthew Daedalus. You can call me Matty, Matt, or by my last name. I'm thirteen. I want to stop running from everything in my life and learn to face my mistakes," Matt says.

"I'm George Washington. You can call me George or Georgie. I'm ten. And I want to have fun," George says.

"I'm Frederic Bartholdi. You can call me Fred, or Freddie, or Ricky. I'm eleven, and I want to learn to build something great," Freddie says.

"I'm Penelope Odysseus. You can call me Penny if you want. Or Nellie. I don't really mind. I'm thirteen. I want to learn to believe in myself and to trust my own abilities," Penelope says.

"I'm Julia Pasiphaë. You can call me Jules. I'm fourteen. I want to learn how to get what I want, the right way. Not by stealing or threatening people. I want to learn to be good," Julia says.

"Alright everyone, so you can pick out your bed, set up your stuff, and I'll hand out camp shirts. You can alter these however you want, as long as you don't tamper with the logo or color. You only have to wear these on trip days, and each person gets two," I say. In my mind, I'm already planning what I'm going to do with my shirts.

"Annabeth?" Malcolm says.

"What's up Malcolm?" I say.

"Uh, where's the bathroom?" He says.

"Thanks for reminding me!" I say, clapping my hands. "Okay everyone! The bathrooms are behind that back door. I forgot to tell you that." I take my two shirts and start making marks with my pen where I plan to cut. When kids come up, I scan the list and give them the two shirts that their parents paid for. "We're going to head down to the arts and crafts area to start personalizing, okay?" We walk out of the cabin and down to the arts and crafts pavilion. I sit down across from Piper. My kids spread out near Piper's charges. We work in silence for a while.

"So how's the boyfriend?" Piper says as Hazel sits down.

"What boyfriend? I don't have a boyfriend," I say.

"I dunno. You seem to be pretty close to that Poseidon counselor. What's his name? Oh, Percy! Nico says that he's never seen Percy get that close to a girl in two days," Hazel says.

"We've known each other for longer than two days. We met about five years ago, spent every hour together for three weeks, then went our separate ways, with the occasional email for holidays and birthdays. So we didn't just meet yesterday. We just reconnected," I protest, glancing up the hill to his cabin. I smile softly.

"What kind of voodoo spell did you put on Percy, because I have _never_ seen him act like this," Thalia says, sliding in next to me.

"What-" I say, tying the last bit of my first shirt together.

"Zoë! No running with scissors!" Thalia barks.

"Anyways, what are you talking about?" I say, blowing hair out of my face. I sigh and pull my hair up, wincing at how my head aches under the weight of my hair.

"Percy's gone soft. He's actually smiling, laughing. His eyes are filled with the kind of joy and laughter that I haven't seen since he was little," Thalia says.

"How do you know that was me? It could just be getting to spend a summer away from home, or the idea of getting paid to play games with kids," I say.

"His eyes light up every single time you walk past," Piper supplies, cutting into her second shirt.

"He does that with Grover too. I think it's the idea of seeing the people that he was on the run with again. You know, like the three of us told each other _everything_ , because each day could have been our last. But we all made it out. We're all okay, thanks to Percy," I say. Percy comes running down the hill.

"Hey babe," he pants.

"Slow down. Where are the kids?" I say, flipping my shirt over.

"Leneus has them," he pants.

"Not that I don't love seeing you, because I do, but why are you here?" I ask.

"I need a favor," he says, still breathing heavily.

"What is it?" I say.

"Can you cut the sleeves off these shirts for me? I would but-" he starts. I remember how bad Percy was with scissors back when we were captive.

"Say no more. I understand. I'll drop them off in your cabin after I'm done, okay?" I say.

"Can you hold onto the scraps? Will can use them as rags or bandages in the infirmary," Percy says.

"Okay Perce," I say, smiling. Percy grins.

"Thanks babe, see you tonight?" He says.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be there," I say. He runs off.

" _Babe_?" Piper says incredulously.

"Yeah, he calls me that sometimes. What's so strange about that?" I say.

"Unbelievable," Hazel says, tying together parts of her second shirt.

"Annie, that's a pet name. Percy's been calling you that for how long?" Thalia says.

"Umm, he started that today? It's just another one of his nicknames for me, like Beth, Bethie, Nerd, Princess, Anna-" I say.

"Wait. Hold up. He calls you _Princess_?" Piper says.

"My cousin is the dumbest dork I've ever met," Thalia says.

"Yeah. Well, he hasn't in years, but yeah, he'd call me that back when we were in captivity. You can ask Grover about that," I say.

"When you were twelve?" Hazel says.

"Yeah. He'd usually say that whenever I was being uptight or too proper. When he was still coming to after whatever drug they used to knock him out, he said I looked like a princess. It was… cute," I say.

"Dang, my cousin has game," Thalia whistles.

"Thals, we were _twelve_ ," I say.

"That's adorable," Piper coos. Jason sits down.

"Hey guys, what's up?" He says.

"Girls, Percy and I are just friends! That's all we're going to be for right now. We've both got too much going on in our lives outside of camp to even consider dating!" I say.

"Lacy! Share the ribbons!" Piper yells.

"Percy totally has a crush on Annabeth," Thalia stage whispers.

"He does not!" I yelp.

"He calls her 'babe'," Hazel says.

"And 'Princess'," Piper says. Jason gives a low whistle.

"Dang, he's got it bad," he says.

"Ugh! We are just friends!" I say. I get up and start walking around, checking on the progress of my campers. I see Percy and Nico strolling along the beach, picking up litter, wiping down chairs, and just prepping for the start of summer kickoff party. Nico glances up and I wave, smiling. He nods, and continues on, twisting the ring on his finger. Percy looks over and trips over his own foot. I laugh behind my hand, before sitting next to Malcolm, who looks around nervously.

"Hi Annabeth," he says.

"Hey Mal, what's wrong? You look sad," I say.

"I just miss my parents. It's nothing," he says.

"It's alright. I miss my family too. I haven't seen them in years. But that's what we have each other for. For this summer, I'm basically your older sister, and each of you are basically my younger siblings. And that's what I think is beautiful about sleepaway camps: you learn who you are without your family," I say. Grover hobbles down the hill.

"All camp meeting, pavilion, thirty minutes," he calls. I curse under my breath, and jog to the beach.

"Perce! Neeks! All camp meeting in the pavilion in half an hour!" I yell. Percy yelps and falls backwards into the water, sputtering.

"Hey Percy, you alright?" Nico says. I giggle. Percy sits up, coughing. His clothes are soaked, and seaweed is tangled in his hair. I jog over and help Nico lift Percy to his feet.

"Nice one Seaweed Brain," I say, gesturing to the clump of sopping wet green foliage on top of his head.

"Whatever Wise Girl," he says, tossing the seaweed from his head back into the ocean. He wrings out the front of his shirt.

"Oh you poor thing! You're all wet. Why don't you go change, okay?" I say.

"Thanks, Annabeth was it?" Nico says as Percy trudges up the beach.

"Yeah," I say.

"Percy won't shut up about you. It's gotten concerning. He never talks like that about anyone," Nico says. My face heats up.

"I don't know. I've seen his eyes light up when he talks about you guys, or his mom. He really loves you all," I say.

"Yeah. We're pretty much all each other has left in terms of family," he sighs.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I knew about Percy's family, but I didn't know about yours or Thalia's," I say.

"It's fine. I wouldn't expect some blonde princess with a perfect life to understand," Nico says.

"My life is _not_ perfect. Do you even know why I'm here? I'm here because I'm not welcome at home. I'm here because my father packed up and moved with his new family and left me behind. He doesn't like me much. I think it's because I look too much like my mom, even though I never knew the woman. She walked out on my first birthday, and I haven't seen her since," I say.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to assume," he says.

"It's fine. I'm used to people assuming things about me based on how I dress, how I look, and things they've heard," I say.

"You're pretty cool, Annabeth. I can see why Percy hangs around you so much," he says. I smile.

"Thanks Neeks. Wait, can I call you Neeks?" I say.

"Yeah, sure," he says, looking off into the distance.

"So how long has Percy been… punk?" I say.

"It started one day with no warning. He went from a blue wearing, video game playing kid to wearing leather, cursing like a sailor, and shredding a guitar. He won't tell us what changed," he says. I wince, immediately having a theory as to why he acts and looks like this.

"Yeah, the cursing thing may have come from me. I curse like a sailor," I say apologetically.

" _You_?" He says.

"Don't act so surprised. But yeah, I may not look it, but I am kind of a rebel," I say, picking a leaf out of my hair. Nico laughs, a hollowed, creepy sound, matching the dark void beyond his brown eyes. There's crunching on the sand. Percy comes back down, wearing a Ramones shirt with the sleeves cut off, a pair of black skinny jeans, and black converse.

"Hey Perce," Nico says.

"I'm gonna head back up. See you at the meeting!" I say, jogging up the hill and back to my campers.

"Okay everyone, we're going back to the cabin to drop off shirts. We have an all camp mixer tonight on the beach so you can get to know other campers. Before that, we have an all camp meeting in the pavilion. Athena cabin, let's head out!" I say. The campers follow me back up to the cabin, and place their shirts in their drawers. I grab Percy's leather jacket, planning on giving it back to him, along with his shirts. We walk out of the cabin, and Thalia's cabin walks beside us.

"Hey Annie," Thalia says. I roll my eyes at the nickname.

"Hey Thals. Any word on our first trip?" I say.

" I think it's the city scavenger hunt," she says.

"Great, a whole day with Perseus Jackson, wandering through the city," I say.

"Wait, how do you know his full name?" she says.

"When he thought we were about to die, he told me," I say.

"And why are you going with Percy?" she says.

"Dude, you _know_ your cousin better than anyone, but even I know the kind of crazy things that happen around him on trips, like blowing up a school bus with a revolutionary war cannon, dropping his whole class into the shark tank, dropping a statue on a substitute, and stuff like that. Chiron's put me on Percy watching duty," I say, before ducking into Percy's cabin, placing his things on his bed and rejoining the group.

"Is it just me or does that chick from Hera literally hate all of us?" Thalia says.

"Yeah, no, definitely. She hates me cause she thinks I'm a ditzy blonde, she hates you and Percy because you're punks, hates Nico for being emo, hates Clarisse for having the most seniority out of all of us, hates Jason because… I don't know, he's too 'perfect boy you'd want to bring home to your parents'? I think she hates the Stolls for being too mischievous, hates Katie for being too much of a flower child, hates Lou Ellen for being sort of off the wall, hates Piper for being rich and semi famous, hates Leo for being too _Leo_ , hates the Bacchae twins for… you know, I have no idea why she hates Pollux and Castor. They're so sweet! Same with Hazel and Frank. They're just so _nice_! And Will's just so peppy and happy and how could anyone hate him?" I say. We make it to the amphitheater and go inside. We sit down next to Hazel and Nico.

"Hey Hazel," I whisper.

"Hey Annabeth," she says. Someone behind me taps my shoulder.

"Either of you dare me to make a huge diversion?" Percy whispers from behind us.

"The last time you made a diversion, you blew a hole in the St. Louis Arch!" I hiss.

"So that's a no?" He whispers.

"Of course it's a no! I'm not letting you get yourself fired on the second day of work!" I whisper.

"You're boring," he mutters.

"Hey, somebody's got to follow rules. It used to be you, but, well uh… look at you?" I whisper.

"Wait. Hold up. That hole in the Arch was _you_?" Hazel whispers.

"Yeah," he shrugs.

"Attention campers and staff, I have some announcements to make regarding safety. In the event of a hurricane, everyone must take shelter in the big house. In the event of a cabin fire, the flaming cabin and the two cabins on either side will take shelter in the big house until the blaze is fully under control. Any cabin with major damage will have its campers relocated to different cabins and the counselor will be moved to the Satyr team cabin. Team assignments, however, will not change. So if you're in the Hephaestus cabin and it burns down, you are still a member of the Hephaestus team, although you temporarily live in another cabin. In the event of a campwide emergency, all campers will go to the Athena Parthenos and await further instructions. This information will be placed in each cabin tonight," Chiron says.

"Was that it?" Hazel says.

"I swear if that was it," Clarisse mutters in front of us.

"And furthermore, there is to be no PDA displayed on camp property," Chiron says. Immediately every counselor swivels to look at Percy and I. Percy throws his hands up.

"Hey don't look at me," he says. I glance back and shrug.

"I know it wasn't you, Percy. It's a preliminary warning after last summer. I wanted to get it out of the way," Chiron says. Clarisse shudders.

"What's wrong?" I say.

"Last summer, two counselors were caught in a- um- _compromising_ position out on top of Zeus's Fist," she says.

"Gross! I sat there today!" Percy yelps.

"Ew, ew, ew. Did counselors catch them or-" I say.

"Yeah. It was awful. Silena from ten spent the next two days completely scrubbing down that rock pile to destroy any and all evidence," she says. Hazel fans her face.

"Wise Girl, remind me not to go near Zeus's Fist," Percy says. His breath tickles the back of my neck.

"Will do," I say.

"Finally, please try to make camp as neat and fun as possible. Pick up any litter you see, tell a staff member if you see broken equipment, and try to keep track of your personal items. Enjoy your first day of camp mixer," Chiron says.

"Well that was humiliating," I say, getting to my feet. The crowd filters out of the amphitheater and down to the beach. The counselors take a seat all on one side of the beach, except for Juno and Clarisse. Juno walks away from us, and Clarisse is setting up the radio.

"So guys, we should probably get to know each other. How about we play Never Have I Ever?" Piper says.

"Might as well," I shrug. We form a circle.

"Okay. I'll start. Never have I ever been on a plane," Thalia says. Percy, Pollux, Jason, Piper, Lou Ellen, Castor, Hazel, Nico, Frank, Katie, Travis, Connor, Will, and I all stick up one finger.

"Okay. Never have I ever… kissed someone that I wasn't dating," Piper says. Percy and I sheepishly glance over at each other and blush. Thalia's eyes dart between us.

" _No way_!" She says.

"Shut up," Percy says, clapping his hands over his cheeks.

"What are you… oh. _Oh_ ," Piper says, glancing over at us.

"Wait, I'm confused. Can somebody explain?" Jason says.

"oh-" Thalia starts.

"Jeez, and I thought the no PDA rule was mortifying," I mutter.

"Drop it, Thals," Percy says, putting another finger up. I follow suit. I look around and see that Leo, Will, Thalia, Jason, Pollux, Castor, Katie, Travis, Connor, and Lou Ellen all have a finger up.

"Oh, my turn! Never have I ever… blown something up," Frank says. Percy, Leo, and I sheepishly put up a finger. Piper sighs and follows suit.

"Annabeth?" Nico says.

"It was a bus. Percy blew a hole through the St. Louis Arch, and I have no idea what Leo and Piper did," I say.

"I blew up a treehouse," Leo says.

"Umm, a BMW," Piper says. Will lets out a low whistle.

"Never have I ever… broken a bone," Will says.

"If you've broken more than one, do you still only put up one finger?" Percy says, burying his face in the crook of my neck.

"Percy, how many?" I whisper, running my hands through his hair. It's soft, hanging into his eyes because the gel was washed away by the water.

"I don't know. It's happened a lot over the years," he mutters. I squeeze his calloused hand. He puts up another finger, and so does almost everyone else, except for Will and Lou Ellen.

"Percy, You can't go back there. Report it to the police. Slowly start transferring your money out of that bank account and into a different one without Gabe involved, and then kick him out. I can't let you go through this anymore," I say.

"Let's see. Never have I ever... gotten in a fist fight with a person," Travis says.

"This games getting boring. What else can we do?" Lou Ellen says.

"Tell stories?" Thalia says.

"Or we could do truth or dare," Piper says. There's a load of grumbling.

"How would truth or dare help us get to know each other?" I say. Percy nods and sits up.

"Any other ideas?" Nico says. I lean into Percy's side, and he wraps an arm tightly around my waist. Thalia looks over and fake gags.

"Aquaman, Annie, are you just going to be hanging off of each other all summer?" Thalia says.

"How come she gets to call you Annie?" Percy whines.

"I was too lazy to correct her," I say.

"Okay, so ideas?" Katie says. I feel something crawling up my leg. I cringe and bury my face into the side of Percy's shirt, shaking and hyperventilating.

"What's wrong?" He whispers.

"Sp-sp-" I stammer quietly.

"Oh." He pulls out his phone, turns on the flashlight, and grabs the spider with a tissue. Then it's gone. "It's okay babe. The spider's gone. It's okay. You're safe." he whispers.

"Thanks," I whisper, turning my head a little and sitting up. Percy hums under his breath, some alternative song that I vaguely remember playing on my roommate's radio last year.

"What about… yeah I got nothing. We don't need to know everything about each other to be friends," Travis says.

"So truth or dare? Fine," Nico says.

"I'll start. Thalia, truth or dare?" Leo says.

"Dare," she says.

"Hmm… I dare you to switch an article of clothing with anyone in this circle," Leo says.

"Percy, switch shirts with me," she says.

"I have eleven inches on you," he says.

"Fine. Annabeth, want to switch jackets?" She says.

"Fine Thals," I groan. Percy moves his arm and I peel off my pink kimono. Thalia peels off her flannel, and we switch.

"Wow, this thing is comfy," she says, poking at the thin fabric.

"I know, right?" I say.

"Okay, Piper, truth or dare?" Thalia says.

"Dare," Piper says.

"Okay. I dare you to stand up and sing a Disney song of your choosing," Thalia says. Piper stands up and belts out _Reflection_. People nearby turn and stare.

"Thank you," Piper says, bowing as we applaud. Leo whistles.

"Wow Pipes, who knew you could sing?" Jason says.

"Okay, Annabeth, truth or dare?" Piper says, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"Let's try truth," I say.

"Okay. Who was your first kiss?" Piper says. I glance up at Percy for a split second.

"Percy," I mutter.

"What?" Thalia says, cupping her hand around her ear.

"Speak up," Piper says.

"It was Percy okay? My first kiss was with Percy Jackson!" I snap. It's silent for a moment, then the counselors start cheering.

"Get it Perce!" Jason cheers. Percy drags his hand down his face.

"Wait… you two _kissed_? You met yesterday!" Pollux says.

"We met five years ago," Percy says.

"Five years ago? You were twelve! Oh my god you were _twelve_ ," Hazel says.

"What can I say, I've got moves," Percy smirks. I groan.

"As if!" I scoff.

"Excuse you?" Percy says.

"I kissed _you_ , not the other way around, and you froze up with this dorky little smile on your face for a good two minutes," I say.

"That was back when you were bold, and took risks, broke the rules. I miss that girl," Percy says honestly, pulling my head into his chest.

"That girl is dead Percy. I'm never going to be able to be that strong girl again. The last time I broke the rules, I ended up traumatized and alone, labeled a slut. I can't go back. Luke took that from me," I mutter.

"You're not weak, babe. You're just strong in a different way than you were before," Percy mutters, his hand resting on my back. I can hear his heart thumping away in his chest.

"Okay, Jason, truth or dare?" I say.

"Dare," Jason says.

"Hmm, I dare you to… do the worm?" I say. He groans and lies down on the sand.

"Wow, very creative," Percy snickers.

"Hey, we're on sand. Sand gets everywhere. Also it's much easier to do the worm on a hard, flat surface with no give. Sand is none of those things. So it's both hard and uncomfortable," I say. Jason flops around on his stomach for a minute, and everyone laughs.

"Is that good?" Jason says, his face half buried in sand.

"Yeah Superman, you're good," Percy says. Jason sits up, and crawls back over to us, shaking sand out of his hair.

"Percy, truth or dare?" He says.

"I know you, so I'm saying truth," Percy says.

"Okay. What do you think of everyone playing this game?" Jason says. I look up and realize that Pollux and Castor have both sprawled out on the sand, fast asleep.

"Katie, you seem pretty cool, if not a little bit of a hippie. Travis, Connor, you two are hilarious. Lou Ellen, you seem like you'd either be a good friend or possibly a criminal mastermind. Leo, you're funny, and you have the highest self esteem I've ever seen. Piper, you're pretty, I guess, and you have a good heart." Percy starts.

"Ooooh," Travis interrupts.

"Does ickle Percy have a crush?" Connor coos.

"Shut up Stoll. Anyways, Jason, you're cool. Way too much of a comic book nerd sometimes, but you're alright. Thalia, you're the craziest cousin out of all of us, but I love you anyways. Also, you're probably ready to kill me at any given time, so thank god you can't reach my neck. Nico, you're like my little brother that I never had, and I know that you're a good kid underneath all of the… emo you have going on here. Also, Thalia, Jason, and I all love you, and will no matter what. Will, your ability to potentially break all of my bones and then fix them up scares me. But you're nice, and one of the happiest people I've ever met. Frank, you're awkward and clumsy, but you're also one of the kindest people I've ever known. Hazel, you're a sweetheart. I think that you may be the last truly good person on earth, but at the same time, I know that you could probably kill someone if you really wanted to. Who's next? Oh, Annabeth. Bethie, you're one of the two best friends that I've ever had. I'm so lucky that you ended up in my life. You're smart, tough, crafty, and the coolest girl I've ever met. You give the best advice, but you also have some of the craziest, _stupidest_ plans I've ever seen, yet they always work out in the end. Either way, I'm still so grateful that you chose to befriend a kid like me. We've changed a lot in the past five years, and I can't believe just how far we've come since that cold first day in the compound," he says.

"Percy? You were a dork back then. You're still a dork, even after all of _this_." I say, gesturing to his clothing and piercings. "But you're still _my_ dork, and no matter what happens, that's still going to be true."

"Hmm… Katie, truth or dare?" Percy says.

"Dare," she says.

"I dare you to breakdance for 30 seconds," Percy says. Katie gets in the middle of the circle and starts spinning around on her hands, her legs kicking out as she moves. I giggle behind my hand and look up at Percy. I decide to sit up. Percy grabs my hand and squeezes it tightly.

"Sheesh, you are handsy today," I mutter.

"You're freezing!" He yelps quietly. I look up at him through half lidded eyes, and he gulps nervously, sucking his lip ring between his teeth.

"Do I make you nervous?" I drawl, my hand crawling up his arm.

"Beth, what are you doing?" He hisses.

"Answer the question, baby," I say.

"Baby? Oh come on! I'm only a month younger than you!" Percy groans.

"Percy! Truth or dare?" Piper says.

"Dare…" he says.

"I dare you to kiss the person of your choosing," Piper smirks.

"Piper!" I yelp. Hazel just fans her face.

"It's not really much of a choice," he says.

"What are you- mmph!" I say, before getting interrupted by his lips on mine. His lip ring is cold. My eyes flutter shut, and I block out the yelling and jeers from my coworkers. My heart pounds in my chest, as his hand weaves into my hair. for once in my life, I feel just like a regular girl, not a kidnapping survivor, or a rape victim, or an unwanted slut. I am wanted. Percy chose _me._ The guy could have picked anyone, but he picked me. I pull away first, scraping his lip ring with my teeth.

"Wow," he pants.

"Yeah," I pant, feeling my face heat up. I glance down at my hands, watching them twitch. _Oh no. Oh no. What have I done?What did I do? What was I thinking?_

"Travis, truth or dare?" Percy says.

"Truth," Travis replies.

"What was the funniest prank you've ever pulled?" Percy says.

"Okay, so once, Connor and I spray painted a mango gold, tied a note to it that said 'for the hottest', then threw it into the girl's locker room just before the cheerleaders finished practice. Makeup was ruined, hair was pulled, friendships were destroyed. It was a good day. We got a month's detention and the cheerleaders got every girl at our school to stop talking to us. That wasn't so fun," Travis says.

"That gives me an idea," Percy smirks.

"Don't you dare, Perseus," I growl. Percy shudders.

"Wait, his real name is _Perseus_?" Leo cackles.

"Babe, you swore you wouldn't tell," Percy whines.

"So what, Leo? Your real name is Leonidas," Piper says.

"Never call me that," Leo says.

"Anyways, Connor, truth or dare?" Travis says.

"Dare," Connor says.

"I dare you to-" Travis starts.

"Annabeth?" One of my campers says.

"What's wrong Angie?" I say.

"I need to go to the infirmary," she whispers quietly. I jump to my feet.

"I'll be right back." I say. Angela and I walk up the beach and up to the infirmary in silence. I open the door, and turn on the lights. "What do you need?"

"I just need to use the bathroom, and get some Midol," she says, heading for the bathroom.

"Oh. Do you need to head back to the cabin for a change of clothes?" I say.

"Yeah," she says through the door.

"When you change, give me your ruined clothes. I know a trick to get blood out of them," I say.

"Thanks Annabeth," she says.

"No problem Ang," I say. Angela comes out and we walk back to the cabin. Angela grabs a pair of shorts and walks back into the bathroom. I pull on my hair, trying desperately to forget how Luke always wanted me to straighten it.

"Annabeth?" She says. I flinch in surprise. I take her dirty clothes and stroll past her into the bathroom. I soak the clothes in cold water, pausing only to mix salt packets from the mess hall into the water.

"Okay. Now we need to launder these," I say, shoving them into a plastic bag.

"I'll put those away for now, and then we can head back," she says.

"Alright," I say.

"You know that punk counselor from… what cabin is it? Lip ring? Tattoos? Really pretty eyes?" She says.

"Percy? What about him?" I say.

"He's like… really cute," she says.

"He's also four years older than you," I supply.

"Oh, I know. But still. That boy is attractive," she says.

"He's a total dork!" I say.

"Come on, help me talk to him? _Please_?" She says.

"Fine, I'll help you talk to Percy," I say. We step onto the beach.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" She says, before running over to a group of kids. I head back over to the counselors.

"Annie, the game's over. Want to switch back?" Thalia says.

"Yeah," I shrug, before removing the flannel. Thalia tosses my kimono back as I throw her flannel towards her. I collapse in a heap in the sand in between Percy's extended legs.

"Hey," he mutters as I lean back against his firm stomach.

"Hi," I say.

"You're not mad at me, are you?" He says.

"Of course I'm not sweetie," I say.

"Oh thank god," he mutters, burying his face in my hair.

"I have a question though. What did you mean by 'it's not really much of a choice,'?" I say.

"Well, Hazel is fifteen, My cousin has a major thing for Piper, Thalia is my cousin, I don't really know Katie, and then there's you. Also, you're easily the prettiest out of all of them," he says.

"You're lying. Can you stop lying to me to try and make me feel better?" I say.

"I'm not lying," he says.

"No, you have to be. Because nobody would ever want _me_ ," I say.

"You're wrong," he says, wrapping his arms around my hips.

"you're adorable, but no. The last guy that wanted me _ruined_ my life," I say, turning around to face him. His lips touch my forehead.

"I don't want you to be uncomfortable around me," he says.

"Percy I'm not," I murmur, rolling off of him. I stare up at the stars in the night sky, wondering how they'd look all the way out in San Francisco. _What would my life be like out there? Waking up to the smell of freshly cooked bacon, listening to the laughter of my brothers, seeing dad down at the table grading papers. I wouldn't feel so unsafe. I wouldn't feel in danger of running into anyone I used to know. The pain from my past could just stay there. No more hurt. No more lies. No more having to pass that dreaded alley, knowing that that's where I lost a part of me that I can never get back._

"Annabeth, come on! We're going to go bond," Piper says. I get to my feet, brushing sand off of me. I follow them down the beach. I sit in between Piper and Clarisse.

"Hey. So what exactly are we doing?" I say.

"Gossip, of course!" Piper says.

"What kind of gossip?" I say.

"Just your usual run of the mill gossip," Clarisse says, twisting the class ring on her finger.

"Who wants to go first?" I say.

"Percy from cabin three totally has a thing for Annabeth," Katie says.

"Oh god, not this again. We're just friends," I say.

"You made out with him, in front of us!" Lou Ellen says.

"It was a dare," I shrug.

"You two have been all over each other since we got here," Thalia says.

"You mean, when Chiron sent us into the city to pick up supplies?" I say.

"And today. The fleeting glances and lovey dovey nonsense makes me sick," Clarisse says.

"What lovey dovey nonsense? We're just friends," I say.

"He calls you pet names," Piper says.

"You're the only girl he's ever told his real name to," Thalia says.

"So?" I say.

"That means you're special," Piper says.

"Just drop it," I say.

"What else… oh! Frank thinks Hazel is absolutely adorable," Lou Ellen says. Hazel fans her face.

"Um, Travis totally has a thing for Katie," I say.

"What?" Katie yelps.

"He pulls pranks on you because he likes you," I say.

"What else?" Hazel says as Juno walks up.

"Hey Juno! We're trying to bond with one another. Want to join?" I say.

"Scoot over," she says, worming her way between Hazel and Lou Ellen.

"Let's play two truths and a lie," Hazel says.

"I'll go first. Okay, so I'm an only child, my mom believes that she's a witch, and I can't eat shellfish," Lou Ellen says.

"Your mom thinks she's a witch?" Piper says.

"That's the truth," Lou says.

"Shellfish?" I say.

"Yeah. I'm not allergic to shellfish," Lou Ellen says.

"My turn! Okay, so I'm the only girl on both sides of my family, I've been struck by lightning, and I have a boyfriend," Thalia says. I recall what Percy said yesterday, about Thalia being his only female cousin.

"You've never been struck by lightning," Juno says.

"No, I have. I have the scar on my stomach to prove it," Thalia says, lifting her shirt to expose the pinkish red scar branching out like a tree.

"wow. Okay, I'm going with boyfriend," I say.

"Correct Annie," Thalia says.

"I've once stolen a BMW, I love my dad's job, and um… I used to name my facial imperfections when I was younger," Piper says.

"The BMW thing," Katie says.

"No," Piper says.

"The naming thing," Clarisse says.

"Nope. When I was fourteen, I had a pimple on the base of my nose that had been there for so long that I named it Bob," Piper says.

"The only thing left is your dad's job," Juno says.

"Yeah," Piper says.

"Why don't you like being the daughter of an actor?" Hazel says.

"He's never home, and when he is, he doesn't pay attention to me. He can't go hang out with me like he used to. The paparazzi follow him everywhere. I can't make friends back in LA because the actors kids out there are stuck up brats, and the normal kids just want to leech off Dad's fame. Dad's fangirls are _creepy_. I used to walk through the mall back in California and see dozens of teenage girls fawning over shirtless pictures of my dad. It was awful," Piper says. I cringe.

"Oh. That sucks," Lou Ellen says.

"My turn? Okay, so I'm engaged, my favorite animal is a peacock, and I have six full siblings," Juno says.

"The engagement?" Thalia says. Juno holds up her left hand. The ring sparkles and twinkles in the torchlight.

"Oh my god! What's his name?" I say.

"His name is Jupiter," Juno smirks.

"Congrats Juno!" Piper says.

"The peacock?" Lou Ellen says.

"Her shirt has a peacock on it. The siblings?" I say.

"Annabeth is correct," Juno says.

"My turn! Ok, so I once cursed out a group of nuns, I have a collection of precious gemstones at home, and I'm a medal winning equestrian," Hazel says.

"There is _no_ way that you cussed out a convent," Thalia says.

"Oh no, I did," Hazel says.

" _No_ ," I gasp.

"The equestrian thing?" Juno says. I vaguely recall reading up on ideal body types for certain sports. That was a long time ago, but I think I remember something about equestrians having long legs, a short torso, and a flat chest. Hazel seems to be almost all leg, although that could just be the way that she's sitting, leaning back on her arms with her legs outstretched.

"Nah," Hazel says.

"You're a prize winning equestrian?" I say

"Junior's League national champion," she shrugs.

"Gemstone thing?" Lou Ellen says. Hazel nods.

"Yeah. I used to collect them and sell them, but every person I sold them to had a horrible accident in the days following. So I stopped. With all the rumors of the gemstones being cursed, I didn't want to risk it," Hazel frowns.

"That sucks," Piper says.

"My turn?" I say.

"Yeah," Lou Ellen says.

"Okay, so I have a fear of spiders, I want to be an architect, and I was born in California," I say.

"There's no way you'd want to be an architect," Juno scoffs.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" I say, my eyes flashing with anger.

"You're clearly not smart enough. I mean, look at you," she says.

"You know what? Just because I dress like a girly girl and I happen to be blonde doesn't mean that I'm stupid. You can insult me all you want. I can take it. But _never_ go after my intelligence you gossipy, nasty-" I say, before stalking off.

"Good going, punk. Blondie is one of the smartest kids I know. And you pissed her off," Clarisse says.

"Annabeth!" Thalia says. Her, Piper, and Hazel are chasing after me. Katie, Clarisse, and Lou Ellen are screaming at Juno. I scream in frustration and kick the nearby tree.

"Do you have _any_ idea how hard I work, just to be taken seriously? How hard I have to fight, just to get the same chance as everyone else? I'm so tired of people underestimating me! I'm sick of being ridiculed for being who I am, I'm just sick of it!" I say. Percy runs over.

"I heard you screaming, is everything okay?" He says.

"Juno called her a dumb blonde," Thalia says.

"Annie, listen to me. She's wrong. You're a genius. You can do anything in life. Ignore her," he says, running a hand through his hair.

"I know, it's just- ugh! Just once I'd like my accomplishments to be paid attention to! Just once, I'd like my actions to be more important than my appearance, you know?" I say.

"Hey, Beth, I've gotta go. The guys are waiting on me. Remember what you said to me, the day I met you?" He says.

"Even if you think you can't do it, you're wrong. You're stronger than you think. You're smarter than you think. You're more clever than you think. We may not get along, but the three of us have to work together. We're all in this together now. All for one, and one for all," I say with a small smile.

"Atta girl," he says.

"Percy come on!" Jason says.

"Bye," I say, before wandering over to Grover and the Satyr team.

"Hey Anna Banana," Grover says, patting the sand beside him.

"Can't believe it's been six years," I say, staring down at the sand.

"Oh, guys, this is Annabeth Chase." Grover says. I wave. "Annabeth, this is Leneus, Silenus, Gleeson, Maron, Sam, Don, and Lysas." He points to each team member as he introduces them.

"Nice to meet you all," I say with a small smile.

"So how do you two know each other?" Don says.

"Oh, umm, we met a few years back, when I was still in high school," Grover says.

"Remember that high profile kidnapping a few years back? Two kids and a teenager? Yeah, that was us. Grover was the teenager. Basically protected the two of us the whole time," I shrug. Grover looks away.

"Oh-" Lysas says.

"Yeah. This summer's the first time that the three of us have seen each other since the Barbara Walters interview," I say, fiddling with my sleeve.

"Wait, three?" Sam says.

"Yeah, Percy's over there," I say, pointing over to the small bonfire that Leo's set up. Percy's face is illuminated by the warm glow of the firelight, and he smiles, that crooked troublemaker's smirk that used to annoy me, but slowly became something that cheered me up as time passed. Whenever things got terrifying, Percy was always there with a dumb joke, or a sassy remark, or a wide grin. I give a sheepish smile and wave. He waves back.

"Percy Jackson, the bravest kid I've ever met," Grover says.

"The dumbest dork I've ever seen. I swear, sometimes hanging out with him is like babysitting. Once he freed three animals from a transport truck. In the middle of Vegas. Granted, it did cause a huge panic and help us make that second failed escape attempt," I say.

"Oh yeah, the zebra, lion, and antelope! I wonder what happened to them," Grover chuckles.

"Well, they're probably either in a zoo or dead by now," I shrug.

"Gee, way to be positive," Grover deadpans.

"I'm just saying! Where do you think they would've gone? The lion probably would've eaten the antelope and zebra, and either ended up in a zoo or starved to death. It's just nature. I don't like it either." I say quietly, glancing over at Percy. He's strumming a guitar. I look back over and see that the rest of the satyr team is staring at me. My blood runs cold, and my heart starts to race. "I have to go." I choke out through gritted teeth, before getting up and running a little ways into the forest. I collapse with my back against a tree and my head between my knees. I start to shake, and I clench my fists so hard that my painted nails dig into my skin.

" _Luke, I'm done. I can't do this anymore. This relationship is toxic. It has to end," I say, my arms shielding my face._

" _What?" He says, his voice booming. Normally that would make me give in in fear, but not today. I have to get out of this today._

" _You heard me! We. Are. Over. I'm done letting you use me like your little blonde slave! I deserve so much more than that!" I say._

" _Frigid bitch," he grumbles._

" _Excuse me? I wasn't ready! You knew that I wasn't ready! Yet you did it anyway! You violated me in the most awful of ways, and then you kept violating me, by sneaking those guys into my bedroom and letting them do what they wanted to me! You ruined my life Luke! And I thought that I could do this, but every time I look in your eyes, I see that awful night. And I'm fucking done, okay? You're not the boy that I fell in love with! Since that mugging, you've changed. I hardly recognize you anymore. I miss my friend. But this… this monster that you've become? I don't know who you are! Just stay away from me, and stay away from my family." I yell, before turning away and starting to walk off. "Oh, and by the way, you weren't my first kiss. Go suck a dick Castellan." I say over my shoulder, flipping him off. I round the corner with a bounce in my step and a smile on my face. My future looks bright. Of course, I had no idea about what was to come. If I did, I would've decked Luke right in the middle of that crowded hallway. Maybe then, he wouldn't make me into the social pariah of Appleton. Maybe then, I wouldn't feel like such an unwanted little whore. But spending all that time focusing on maybes won't let me go back and stop the tornado that was about to crash directly into my life. Maybe doesn't fix anything. The past is over. I can only move forward._ I feel droplets of water crash into my legs. I realize that I'm crying. I put a hand over my mouth to muffle my screams and cries. I start to feel helpless, and cold. _God has it always been so cold?_ I gasp for breath. I can't breathe, can't move, can't speak. My skin is flushed and clammy with sweat. My heart feels like it's leaping out of my chest. All I can do is clamp my eyes shut. I hear the crunch of shoes on dead leaves.

"Anna?" Percy calls. I can't respond. I just sit, frozen, searching for the words, desperately trying not to be invisible again. "Oh my- Annabeth!" He yelps, kneeling in front of me. I gasp for breath. "Okay. Deep breaths Annabeth, in through the nose, out through the mouth. In. Out. In. Out. Countdown from ten for me." He says.

"T-t-ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four three, two, one," I choke out.

"Good. Three more deep breaths. You're okay. You're okay. You're okay," he says. I take a deep breath, then release it. I can breathe again. I curl up and sob.

"God, I'm a mess," I say.

"What happened?" he says.

"The Satyr team were all watching me. It was too much. I- I couldn't handle it. So I ran. Just like how I run from all of my problems," I say. Percy scoots over so his back is also against the tree. I lean onto his shoulder.

"You don't run from your problems. Annabeth, you're going to be okay. I promise, one day, you'll be okay. Things will get better. And when they do? I'll be right there, holding your hand, and we won't have to be abuse survivors, or kidnap victims, or anything like that. We'll just be Percy and Annabeth," he says.

"You're a good kid Percy. Maybe someday, the rest of the world will see it too," I say, placing a hand on his stomach. My heart races. He sucks his lip ring between his teeth, watching the kids laugh and play.

"Do you ever wish that we had a normal life? You know, a chance to be kids, _for once_ , instead of independent, scared little children?" Percy says.

"Percy, if we'd been normal, we'd never have met. But we're only seventeen. We're still kids! We can be kids. We don't have to act strong! We can just be _ourselves_! Don't you see? It isn't over! We're still young, the night isn't over, and we have a whole summer ahead of us! So let's do it! We're going to have one carefree, awesome, _perfect_ summer. _Together_ ," I say, extending my hand towards his. I fumble around in the dark for a little before finding it.

" _Together_ ," he says, squeezing my hand in his own. His arm drapes across my shoulders.

"We can be normal seventeen year olds: watch shitty movies, go bowling, the works," I say.

"Do we even have the right to be normal kids?" He says.

"What's with the second thoughts?" I say.

"You know what I did. You know what _we_ did. Do we really get to act like everything's fine and like we're not awful people?" He says.

"We're not awful people. We're just… damaged. Yeah, we're damaged, and we're frightened, we're both freaks but that's alright. I don't know about you, but I'm _done_ hiding. I'm done being scared," I say.

"It's just… I still have nightmares about it. I feel like I'll never be able to pay for what I did," he says.

"You're a good kid. You'd never intentionally hurt anyone," I say.

"Thank you," he says.

"No, thank you," I say.

"For what?" He says.

"For not being disgusted by who I've become. For standing by me, even when it'd be so much easier to walk away," I say.

"You're my _friend_ , Beth. And you know how loyal I am to my friends," he says.

"Do you ever think that maybe what happened to you kind of developed into a strange habit or fear, just out of necessity?" I say after a moment.

"Maybe. I mean, I'm terrified of turning out like my dad or _Gabe_. I couldn't do that to someone, knowing what it's done to my mom," he says, taking a shaky breath.

"Yeah, I've developed a sort of fear of commitment since Luke. If I don't get into relationships, I can't get hurt. It's twisted and awful and I hate it, but I don't know what else to do. I don't really have anyone in my life anymore. When the fight happened, they all sided with Luke. Since then, I've been alone. I don't know how to keep acting like everything's fine, when it's not," I say.

"You know, you remind me a lot of Rachel," he says.

"Gee, that's definitely how you cheer someone up. By telling them that they remind you of your ex," I deadpan, pulling out my phone. I type in the passcode, wincing at the background, a picture of my brothers and I.

"I meant it as a compliment. You and Rachel are actually pretty similar. You both have the same drive, same desire to change the world. The only difference is in how you do it. Rachel wants to be an artist, and you want to be an architect. Rachel's an oddball. She doesn't really play by anyone's rules but her own. And you're like that too," he says. A song that I recognize plays on the radio.

"Oh, I love this song!" I say. Percy wrinkles his nose.

"What is this?" He frowns. I sing along to the chorus, nodding to the beat. Percy laughs, before snapping a photo of me

"Percy don't you dare post that!" I yelp.

"I'm not! I'm just sending it to my friend, see?" He says, showing me the photo. The little bit of moonlight that filters through the trees shines on my hair, and the flash from the photo makes my eye twinkle. My lips are slightly parted. I glance up. A girl with frizzy red hair up in a ponytail is wandering around.

"Who is that?" I say, pointing her direction.

" _No_. _Rachel?_ She's supposed to get here tomorrow! I guess we should go say hi. Come on," he says. I get to my feet.

"You don't seem too excited or happy," I say, stretching.

"No shit," he grumbles. I squat down in front of him.

"Language!" I say.

"You're one to talk, _your highness_ ," he smirks. I roll my eyes and hoist him up.

"Shut up," I say, smacking his arm. It's a light smack, just enough to make a sound, but not enough to seriously hurt.

"I'm just saying!" He chuckles. His eyes sparkle with mirth, and I bite my tongue to hold back my giggle.

"It's going to be okay. You can do this. It's just your ex," I mutter.

"I still really like her. I think," he groans.

"Aww, Percy, that's adorable! Who knew you had it in you?" I coo, pinching at his cheeks. He rolls his eyes.

"Whatever babe," he says.

"Go talk to her! If you still like her, go! Maybe then everyone will stop thinking that we're dating!" I say.

"They said _what_?" He yelps.

"They think that we're, like _into_ each other, which is totally ridiculous because I'm like _so_ not your type, and I'm too terrified to date-" I babble.

"Breathe, babe. Why do they think that we're into each other?" He says as we walk out of the woods.

"They think that when you call me Babe, or Princess, or any variation of those names, you mean it as one of those sickeningly sweet pet names that couples use," I say. Percy grabs my hand, and I glance up at him.

"Forget what they think. We know the truth. And we'll just keep fighting for that truth," he says.

"As St. Augustine once said, 'truth is like a lion. You don't have to defend it. Let it loose. It will defend itself.'" I say.

"Geez, Wise Girl," he says.

"No, don't make that my nickname," I whine.

"It's too late. It's happened," he smirks. I wave at the new girl, before jogging over.

"Oh hi! You must be Rachel! I'm Annabeth. It's so nice to meet you!" I chirp, extending my arm outwards.

"Nice to meet you too," she says.

"Wow, you're even prettier than Percy described you!" I say. Her head perks up.

"Percy?" She says.

"Yeah, Percy. Percy Jackson. Do you know him? He seems like he knows you," I say, playing dumb.

" _Percy Jackson_ works here? No no no oh gosh," she says.

"What's wrong?" I say. Percy bounds over.

"Bethie, there you are! Oh, and I see you've met Rachel," he says, trailing off awkwardly.

"Percy," Rachel nods.

"RED," he says.

"Oh! I have to go check in on my campers. It was nice meeting you Rachel!" I say, before turning and jogging towards a group of children on the beach. I notice that it's my entire cabin. "Hey guys, what's going on?"

"Hi Annabeth," Eric says.

"We're playing tag!" Ricky says.

"Do you want to play?" George says. A little boy stumbles over.

"Hi! I'm Tyson! Are you Annabeth?" A kid with shaggy brown hair covering one of his brown eyes says.

"Yes, I am. Why do you ask?" I say.

"My counselor said that if I ever got into any trouble and he wasn't around, I should go find Annabeth," Tyson says.

"And who's your counselor, big guy?" I say, crouching down so I'm at his eye level. He reminds me of Matthew and Bobby, which just makes me sad. _I hope they're okay._

"Percy! He said look for the pretty blonde counselor!" He says. I blush, and the kids behind me ooh and ahh, as if they're watching a show or something.

"Well, Tyson, I'm flattered. Percy's a good guy. He can handle almost anything. But what do you need?" I say.

"Oh yeah. My cabin mate fell and hurt her leg," Tyson says. I gasp. I know Percy isn't too good with crying and screaming kids, so I understand why he'd send Tyson to me.

"Okay, come with me," I grab his hand and power walk over to Will, who is sitting with Nico.

"So, anyways-" Will starts.

"Sorry to interrupt Neeks, but Will, we've got a medical emergency," I say. Will gets to his feet and runs a hand through his hair.

"What's wrong?" Will says.

"A girl fell and hurt her leg!" Tyson says.

"Okay, where is she?" Will says, suddenly serious.

"Follow me!" Tyson says, letting go of my hand. He jogs off and Will and I jog after him. We come to a girl with dark hair and insanely light blue eyes, almost white in color. She's sitting on the ground, staring at her bloodied leg and screaming.

"Hi, sweetie, what's your name?" I say, kneeling at her feet.

"Ky-Kym," she wails.

"Okay Kym, it's going to be okay," I say.

"I need a stretcher," Will calls.

"Okay. Anyone have a blanket? " I say. I realize that I still have some fabric scraps from the shirts. "Will! Can we bind her leg with these?" I say.

"Yeah, for now!" He says. Katie drops a blanket at Will's feet.

"Here Will. Just wash it before our Central Park picnic trip," she says.

"Thanks Katie," I say.

"Annabeth can you get two huge sticks or something? Leo, toss me that duct tape!" Will says. A silver roll of tape flies through the air. I get up and sprint off. I find two discarded poles from an old broken beach volleyball set and take them back to Will.

"These work, right?" I say. He nods. I grab the tape and blanket and start trying to make a stretcher like the one they loaded Percy onto that day we were saved.

"Okay Kym, deep breaths," Will says. I realize that a huge rock is impaled in her calf.

"Done!" I say.

"Okay, let's load her onto it," he says. With a bit of careful heaving, we manage to get her into the makeshift little stretcher.

"Lift on three. One, two, three," I say, grabbing the poles on one side. Will grabs the other side. We stagger up the beach and over to the infirmary. We get her into a bed.

"Kym, this might hurt a little," he says. I grab her hand.

"Here, squeeze my hand when it hurts," I say. Will washes his hands and pulls on a pair of gloves.

"Deep breaths," he says, gripping the rock. I look away. Kym screams and squeezes my hand. I glance back. Will's face is greenish, and Kim's face is pale. A sharp rock about the size of my fist is in Will's hand.

"Good job honey," I say.

"Annabeth, can you get her leg elevated?" Will says. I grab some pillows and gingerly place them under her leg. He hums under his breath as he grabs bandages. He presses a cool rag to her cut, and I cringe as the gray rag turns red with blood. He grabs a huge wad of gauze and a roll of what looks like mesh tape. "Annabeth, can you go get Percy? Since Kym here is one of his campers, he should sign the incident report." He says. I nod and jog out of the infirmary. Percy is standing on the beach, talking to Rachel, rubbing the back of his neck like he does when he's flustered. I sprint over to him.

"Percy! One of your campers is in the infirmary! You have to go, come on!" I say, grabbing his hand.

"Slow down! Who is it?" He says.

"Kym Opoleia,"I say, dragging him up the hill.

"Aww man, not Kym!" He says. I throw open the door to the infirmary.

"Here!" I pant.

"Oh, hey Percy," Kym says weakly. Her leg is all bandaged up.

"What happened Kym?" He says. I silently grab the incident report, remembering that Percy's handwriting is chicken scratch.

"I was running down the beach, when I suddenly tripped. Then I heard a squelching sound, and my left leg felt like it was on fire. When I looked at it, I saw a sharp rock embedded in my calf," she says. I scribble it down.

"Okay Will, what do you think caused all the bleeding?" I say.

"It actually wasn't as bad as it looked originally. I think she just nicked a minor artery. She should be okay. She should stay overnight in infirmary so we can keep an eye on her,"

"Can we call my mom?" Kym says.

"Perce, sign this," I say, offering him the clipboard. He scribbles down his signature. He pulls out his cell phone and dials Kym's mom's number.

"Hello, Mrs. Opoleia? It's Percy Jackson. I'm Kym's counselor at camp. There's been a little… _accident_." There's a pause, and he runs his hand through his hair. "No no! She's fine! She just tripped and got a pretty bad cut on her leg! Here, I'll let Kym talk to you," he says. He passes the phone to Kym.

"Hi mom! No, I'm alright. Percy told you the gist of what happened. I just tripped and got a rock stuck in my leg. Will has it under control. Mom! You don't need to come up here! I'm okay, really! Okay, love you too. Bye," Kym says. She hangs up and gives the phone back to Percy.

"So Will, what do we need to do?" he says.

"How about you two go back out, and get an adult to come and keep an eye on her. We also need Chiron to sign the form," he says.

"Feel better Kym!" I say.

"I'll see you soon, okay kiddo?" Percy says.

"Thanks guys," she says. I tuck the pen into my ponytail as I close the door behind me.

"So umm, about Rachel," Percy says, trailing off.

"Say no more. I get it. You like her. Who wouldn't? She's more like you than any other girl at this camp. Well, except for Thalia, but she's you know, your cousin," I say, as we walk down the path. The way is lit by lamps hanging above us. The sound of loud chatter reaches my ears.

"Annabeth-" he starts, veering off the path towards the forest.

"Percy, it's fine. We're best friends. I don't care who you like," I say, following behind him.

"But Beth-" he tries again, stopping. He turns around.

"Percy, it's fine. If you want to go for Rachel, I'll support you. Because you're my boy, and after all you've been through, you deserve to be happy," I interject.

"Dammit Annabeth will you just let me finish?" He says, suddenly surging forward and cupping my face. My heart races, and I stare up at him in shock.

"What?" I croak, my voice cracking pathetically. I internally cringe. _Great going dumbass._

"Beth, sweetheart, _princess_. I don't _want_ Rachel," he pleads.

"But you said-" I start feebly.

"That maybe I still liked her? Well, I thought I did. The whole time I was talking to her, I felt… nothing like how it used to feel. My mind would constantly wander to thoughts of someone else." he says. My mouth drops open. He takes a deep breath before continuing. "And that's when I realized: I didn't like Rachel like I used to. I mean, sure, she's cool and all, but I think she'd be better as a friend. I think I like someone else now. She's smart, beautiful, and she drives me absolutely _crazy_." He's leaning down now, closer to my face. _He can't be talking about me. He just can't. He couldn't be. He isn't. Breathe Annabeth. You're okay. You're alright._ His lips press against mine, and his long arms snake around my waist, pulling me in. We stumble backwards until I feel the rough bark of a tree against my back. I stand up on my tiptoes to make things easier on Percy. This kiss is nothing like our first. Our first kiss was all innocence and simplicity, like two kids trying to be grown up and failing miserably. This kiss is all tongue and passion. My hands go from being squished against his chest to running through his hair. His hair is surprisingly soft, and way less tangled than I thought it would be. His tongue pokes my bottom lip, and I hear a small groan from one of us. He pulls away first, and suddenly I realize what I just did. _I made out with my best friend, and I actually didn't hate it. Wow._ My eyes widen. "Oh my god, Princess! I'm so sorry! I don't know what came over me! Please don't be mad at me." He runs a hand through his hair. I look up at him, suddenly realizing that I can see things about him like I've never noticed before. I can see the tiny flecks of gold in his eyes, the tiny freckles and sunspots along his nose and chin, the hint of stubble where he shaved yesterday, the small bump on his nose from where I assume he's broken it before, and the slight crookedness of his teeth when he smiles.

"I'm not mad Percy. But we have to go!" I say. My lips feel tingly.

"But- oh yeah! The party!" He says, grabbing my hand. He starts to run through the forest, and I stumble behind him.

"Percy, slow down! I can't keep up!" I yelp. He slows to a stop and crouches down.

"Hop on," he says.

"You're crazy Jackson." I say, but I climb onto his lean back. He carries me through the forest with a smirk. "So Percy, you're in a band, right?" I say.

"Yeah, why?" He says.

"No reason. I'd just love to hear you guys play sometime," I say.

"And I'd love to see a building you've designed sometime," He says.

"You remembered?" I say. He stops at the base of a hill.

"We're almost there. Can you hop off? You know, so nobody thinks we're dating?" He says.

"Yeah. We aren't talking about… whatever it was that just happened, right?" I say, scrambling off his back.

"Wait, does making out by the woods count as PDA?" He says as we walk up the path. My arm brushes against his, and I clench my fist to try and ignore the urge to clasp his hand tightly.

"It depends," I say.

"On what?" He says.

"If anyone saw us," I say.

"Yeah, well, I'll be more careful next time," he blurts out.

"Next time?" I say, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh. U-um. _Fuck_. I mean, I'd like to do that more, but uh-" he stammers.

" _Relax_. It's cool." I say with a wave of my hand. I hum, absentmindedly dancing to the song in my head. Percy laughs. I whirl to face him. " _Perseus Jackson_ , are you filming me?"

"No…" he says, pulling his phone down.

"Show me." I say. He turns his phone around and I watch myself twirling down the path humming, with a wide grin on my face. My body and face are mostly hidden by 's captioned it with the phrase 'my nerd3'. I blush."Send that to me."

"Do you even have a Snapchat?" He says.

"Yeah, give me your phone," I say. I grab his phone, enter in my Snapchat username, then put my number into his contacts. I send a preliminary text to my own phone just to have his number. I hand his phone back, and I jolt when our fingers touch.

"And done," he says, pressing something on his phone.

"What's done?" I say.

"You're now on _the_ Percy Jackson's Snapchat story," he smirks. I roll my eyes.

"Wow, I'm honored," I deadpan.

"Hey, I'll have you know that I'm considered a hot piece of ass at my school!" He yelps. _I don't doubt it._

"So will any of your admirers come after me?" I joke. He grabs my hand and we swing our arms back and forth as we walk down the hill to the beach.

"Nah," he shrugs.

"do you think Rachel likes me?" I say.

"Why do you care what Rachel Dare thinks?" He says.

"She's your _ex_ , and I'm your… best friend. Of course I care what she thinks about me!" I say. Percy ignores the pause before the words 'best' and 'friend'. The sound of upbeat pop music reaches my ears as we finally step onto the beach. His nose wrinkles in disgust.

"Ugh," he groans.

"What's up?" I say.

"I'm just not a _pop_ person," he says.

"No shit Sherlock," I deadpan.

"Oh quiet, Beth," he says, poking the tip of my nose. His phone goes off all of a sudden. He looks down at me, letting go of my hand.

"Percy, you don't have to take orders from me. Do whatever you want!" I say. He pulls it out of his pocket. _Video call from: Ace._

"Hey loser," Percy says, pressing accept. The boy on the screen has a streak of bright red in his hair just over his right eye, and patches and pins all over his denim vest.

"Hey dweeb. How's Camp Boring so far?" Ace says.

"It's actually… not as boring as I'd thought it'd be. I mean, my family's here, two of my old friends are here, and the others are really chill," Percy says.

"You've been there for two days, right?" Ace says.

"Yeah. It's been nice," Percy says.

"You know, I saw your story," Ace says.

"And," Percy says. His face is reddening.

"Who's the chick in the video?" Ace says.

"The _chick_ in the video has a name dude. It's Annabeth," Percy says, turning the phone towards me suddenly. He develops a wicked smirk on his face.

"I know that look Jackson. That's your 'I'm about to break several laws' look. Don't you dare," I say.

"But babe," Percy whines.

"'But babe' nothing Perce! Need I remind you that I left you alone once for _five minutes_ , and you blew up a national monument!" I say.

"Anyways, Bethie, meet Ace. Ace, this is Annabeth," Percy says.

"Nice to meet you," I say, carefully looking just past his shoulder onscreen.

"Likewise. So Perce, what are you doing hanging around a little blonde girly girl? Surely you haven't lost yourself that much, have you?" He says.

"I'm right here!" I scoff.

"She's an old friend. My best friend in fact," Percy says. I slip away from him and towards the girls, with a huge grin on my face. I can't stop touching my lips in shock, still so sure that what happened in the woods was just a crazy dream, or a hallucination or something. I could do something so cliche like collapsing down a door or wall or something with an airy sigh, but that's not who I am. So instead i just grin until my cheeks hurt.

"Hey Jason!" I say with a smile.

"Hey, Annabeth. You seem in a surprisingly good mood tonight," he says.

"I just thought that I'd talk to you. I've talked to the rest of your family, but not you yet," I say.

"So Annabeth, Percy tells me that you're an aspiring architect?" Jason says.

"Yeah. It's all I've ever wanted in life. Percy says you're a varsity basketball player?" I say.

"Yeah. What about you, do you play any sports?" He asks.

"I used to do varsity volleyball, but then I switched schools, and we don't have a volleyball team," I say.

"That sucks. Where do you go to school?" He says.

"East River Academy for Gifted Girls. The most pretentious boarding school in Manhattan," I say, rolling my eyes.

"I've heard it's an amazing school," he says.

"The education quality is amazing, but the people are _awful_! My roommate last year was the worst. She'd constantly have her radio on full volume, leave a mess all over our dorm, talk crap about me while I was right there, try and persuade me to help her sneak her boyfriend of the month into the room, eat everyone's food in the hall fridge, and go out to parties instead of actually doing her work. Thank god she flunked out," I say.

"Most private schools are like that. Annoying little rich kids who don't understand how good they have it, making fun of the kids who take it seriously. But your roommate pales in comparison to mine last year. He had a bit of a drinking problem, was a noisy drunk, and would frequently try to hook up with our classmates in the room _while_ I was there," he says.

"I know, right? Private school is like the fifth circle of hell!" I say.

"You know, Annabeth?" He says.

"Yeah?" I say, looking at the scar along his lip.

"I have a feeling that this is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship," he says. Piper jogs over.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but I need Annabeth for a moment," Piper says.

"Pips!" I yelp, as she drags me away. We go down to an abandoned part of the beach.

"Where the _hell_ did you go?" She says.

"Infirmary. A camper got hurt. Percy and I had to fill out reports and call her parents," I say.

"and after that?" She says.

"We wandered around," I say.

"Oh, I'm sure you did," Piper says. Her choice of words is suspicious.

"Yes, Piper, we did! I explained the whole 'everyone thinks we're dating' thing to him. We had a good laugh about it," I say. She gives me a suspicious look.

"I'm serious! We're just friends! Besides, neither of us really want to date right now," I say. I glance back over at him and smirk. His hair is messed up and his phone is back in his pocket. He waves.

"So anyways, what were you talking to Jason about?" She says.

"Why do you care?" I ask.

"Just curious," she says.

"Oh my god were you _jealous_?" I say.

"No!" She yelps, a bit sheepishly.

"Oh my god, you _so_ were! If you must know, we were talking about school. We both go to super pretentious boarding schools, so we were just swapping stories," I say.

"I was _not_ jealous!" She says.

"Sure Pipes. _Sure_ ," I say, before spinning on my heel and walking away. I grin as I walk past Percy. Clarisse suddenly grabs a microphone or something.

"Attention campers! It's ten o'clock, and that means that we've reached the end of our first party. When I call your cabin, please come up to the front so we can head back to our cabins for the night. I hope your first day was wonderful." Clarisse says. She passes the mic to Chiron.

"Cabin One! Zeus Cabin, please come to the front." He yells. Jason steps forward and leads his campers up the hill and into the night. "Cabin Two! Hera Cabin, please come forward." Juno sashays up the hill, leading her gaggle of children away.

"Cabin Three! Poseidon Cabin, please follow your counselor to your bunks now." Percy goes up the hill, carrying Tyson on his hip, and his cabin vanishes into the night."Cabin Four! Demeter cabin! Please follow Katie up to your cabin now." Katie goes, her dark brown ponytail bouncing as she leads her kids away. "Cabin Five! Ares Cabin, please head up the hill to your cabin now." Clarisse leads the kids away, with Frank taking up the rear. "Cabin Six! Athena Cabin! Please come to the front." I step up and wait for my kids to come to me, before we walk up the hill and into the cabin. I flick on the lights and gather everyone around.

"Alright kids, so who prefers morning showers?" I say, grabbing a dry erase marker. Four kids raise their hands. "Eric, George, Angie, and Jules. Alright. You are the morning shower group." I write their names on the board under the phrase 'morning'. My name is at the top of the list. "Malcolm, Minnie, Nellie, Freddie, and Daedalus. You five are the night shower group." I say. The kids in the nighttime shower group gather their things and head for the two cabin showers. I grab my polka dotted pajama shorts and an old sweatshirt of my father's from his college days. "Morning group, we will be changing in the bathrooms." The remaining kids follow me into the three stall bathroom. The boys go in first, then come out wearing their comfy looking pajamas. Then we go in and change. I lead them back into the room, then I grab a makeup wipe, wiping away my look for the day. I sit down on my bunk and watch the kids finish getting ready for bed. I pull my phone out and realize that I've gotten a text from Percy.

 _Percy: do you think we should act like we're still part of the feud or something? U know, trash talking and stuff like that?_

 _You: why? Is it really necessary?_

 _Percy: to take some of the suspicion away. If people think we hate each other, they'll stop thinking that we have a thing going on. People already assume that we're dating, so maybe we convince them that we aren't by throwing ourselves into the feud._

 _You: yeah sure, good idea Mister "I'm gonna make out with my best girl friend in the woods and hope nobody sees us"_

 _Percy: omg shut up babe_

 _You: make me Jackson ;)_

 _Percy: ur the worst and I hate u_

 _You: funny that's not what you said earlier sweetheart_

 _Percy: I'm rolling my eyes right now_

 _You: it's lights out. Talk to you in the morning dork_

 _Percy: till tomorrow nerd :)_

I get up and walk over to the light switch. "Alright guys! It's lights out! That means no loud talking, and everyone has to remain in bed. Dumb rule, I know. But anyways, have a wonderful night everyone!" I say, before flicking off the lights. I lie down in bed, mentally planning what I'm going to wear tomorrow. The old me would have never done that. The old me straightened her hair every day, threw on whatever old clothes she could find, and sincerely believed that she had a future with a guy like Luke Castellan. The new me agonizes over her every outfit, leaves her hair in its natural wild curls, and believes that the only person you are guaranteed a future with is yourself. It's a jarring change, but maybe that's what I needed after the worst night of my life: a change in who I am. In the year and however many months since the attacks, I've changed what I look like, just so I can look in the mirror and see a girl other than _Annabeth Chase, victim_. Now I see plain old _Annabeth_. I shut my eyes and go to bed, curling up between the sheets.

 _I'm standing in a desert, wearing a billowing gray dress. I run through the sand, laughing and cheering as the wind blows through my hair. All of a sudden, I slam face first into a wall of glass. I look around, and realize that the glass extends all the way around as far as I can see. The sand beneath me starts to rustle, and I slowly start to sink back in towards the center._

" _Help! Help!" I yell, trying to latch desperately onto the glass wall. I bang on the glass, and a giant face peers in._

" _Look, look Mummy! This hourglass moves!" The face says with wonder._

" _No, help! I'm a real girl! help me!" I say, as I lose my grip and start to get dragged back towards the center. The sand moves closer and closer to the hole, before disappearing. I can hear creepy laughter down below. I scream loudly, and notice a little hook at the top of the hourglass. I try to reach for it, to try sand grab on, but everytime I touch it it moves farther away. I see people on mini surfboards and skateboards riding the shifting sands as best as they can. Suddenly, I'm falling, down, down, down, surrounded by sand on all sides. Everything goes dark as I hit the ground below._

I yawn and sit up in bed. Light streams through the cabin windows. I hear creaking on the front porch. I step outside into the chilly morning air, and grab my cabin's schedule for the day off of the porch. I write it down on the whiteboard and decide to take a shower while I wait for the other kids to wake up in about a half hour. I grab the clothes I mentally picked out last night and grab them before slipping into the shower. From there, it's a quick turnover. I take my hair out of its braids and let it fall naturally. I comb through it with one hand and pull on a pair of socks with the other. I go around to the morning shower kids, waking them up. They grab their clothes and head for the showers. I sit on my bed and pull on my shoes, before texting Percy.

 _You: Percy you better be awake right now_

 _You: Percy, wake tf up_

 _Percy: alright geez Annie I'm up_

 _You: ready for day one of the feud?_

 _Percy: l guess_

 _You: btw for Cabin vs Cabin games tonight, we're on opposite teams. My cabins gonna kick your ass_

 _Percy: :(_

 _You: all in the spirit of healthy competition right?_

 _Percy: lmao see u at breakfast_

I wake up the remaining kids and let them start getting ready. Minnie comes out of the shower area with her hair dripping wet. Her bangs are just dripping water directly onto her face.

"Annabeth, can you help me do my hair?" She says. I nod.

"Yeah, of course Minnie!" I say. She sits at my feet, and I brush through her hair, before braiding it into two equal sized braids. "Is that good?" I say.

"Thank you Annabeth!" She says, standing up. She skips back over to her bed and plops down. I apply some mascara to make my eyes look bigger, pull my lucky yankees cap over my head, and get up.

"Alright everyone, single file! We're heading to breakfast!" I say. We head out of the door, and Frank walks beside me.

"Hey, Annabeth?" He says.

"Yeah, what's up Frank?" I say.

"You seem like you have this under control, so could you help me? What are our disciplinary actions and the order we're allowed to do them in?" He says.

"Alright, so first is a verbal warning. Then a written warning. Then a call to legal guardians. Then we go to sitting out for an entire day of camp, then to sitting out on the next trip. After two of those, we ask their parents to come get them from camp. If a camper gets caught fighting, we skip straight to sitting out a day of camp. Does that answer your question? Actually, you know what? I'll send it to you," I say. We walk into the mess hall. I lead my kids through the line before seating them at a table. Breakfast is just as fun as the one yesterday, but way noisier. My phone buzzes.

 _Percy: ready to fight?_

 _You: bring it punk_

 _Percy: :(_

 _You: :(_

Percy's practically asleep on his hand over his pancakes, so I sneak over and rip his arm out from under his chin, smirking when he falls forward and gets a face full of syrup.

"Chase!" He yelps, sitting up.

"Oops!" I chirp with mock sincerity.

"I'm gonna kill you!" He yells, getting to his feet. I scream and run out of the pavilion. He follows, and I lead him out of sight and earshot of the rest of the camp.

"How's that for a start to the fighting?" I say, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Nice one Chase. You almost had me convinced that you hated me," he says.

"Come on, let's go clean you up," I snicker. He all of a sudden grabs me and throws me up onto his shoulder. "Put me down!"

"Nope!" He cackles, before jogging down back towards the mess hall.

"What are you doing?" I yelp.

"Play along," he hisses.

"Percy! put me down!" I yelp, pounding on his back with my fists. My legs kick out, and I flail around as we enter the pavilion. He lifts me off his shoulder and places me back on the ground. "What the _heck_ Jackson!" I yell.

"You got syrup on my face _Chase_!" He yells.

"You're insufferable! I can't believe we were actually friends!" I yell, winking so he knows that I'm kidding.

"Oh, _I'm_ insufferable? What about you, little miss 'let's break into an abandoned waterpark'? News flash honey, you're not as perfect as you pretend to be," he says. I stand up on one of the benches behind me and slap him across the face. Not hard enough to seriously hurt him, but hard enough to make a sound.

"Percy! Annabeth! Big house! Now!" Chiron says. Grover walks up to him.

"Um, Mr Brunner, sir? With all due respect, that's just how Percy and Annabeth fight!" Grover stammers nervously.

"It's fine, we'll go. It's our fault anyway," Percy says. Chiron wheels himself out of the pavilion and up the path to the big house. We shrug and follow. As soon as we're out of sight, Percy offers me his arm. "My lady," he says with a mock bow.

"Thank you kind sir," I say with a terrible British accent and a small curtsy. Chiron's far enough ahead of us that he can't see what we're doing.

"I can't believe you're a _Yankees_ fan," he says.

"It was my mother's. One of the few things she left behind when she walked out on us," I say sadly.

"Oh, Beth, I'm so sorry!" He says.

"It's alright, Percy. You didn't know. Besides, it was years ago. I don't care," I say, wincing.

"Annabeth, don't lie to me. I know that it hurts, knowing that your mom decided to walk away from you. It's okay to care. It doesn't make you a weaker girl. It just makes you stronger," he says.

"For most of my life, I was on my own. After Mom left, my dad tried to avoid me, because I was _just_ like her. Then he met _Helen_ ," I say.

"Who's Helen?" He says, as we step up the big house stairs. We follow Chiron into the main office.

"As punishment, you two will be stuffing letters for the next hour. I can trust you alone, right?" Chiron says. We nod. He leaves the room and we sit down on two worn out chairs. We start working.

"Helen is my stepmom. She _hates_ me. I'm a reminder that my dad once was in love before her. I'm too much like Mom, I guess. So she treated me like I was _nothing_. My dad went along with it, because he was blinded by love. I lived in Virginia until I was seven-" I say.

"That explains the hint of a southern accent you still have," Percy interrupts.

"Until one night, when I finally had enough of the constant loneliness and mistreatment. I had tried everything else, but the only thing left to do was run away. So I packed up the few things I had and left," I say.

"You _ran away_?" Percy says.

"I made it to Manhattan. That's when I met _him_. Luke Castellan. He was two years older, a runaway like me. He took me in, helped me stay alive. He promised that we'd be a family. We lived in an abandoned warehouse together for four months. Then one day, the cops found us. They took me back to my parents. A few years later, we packed up and moved to Manhattan, and I found Luke again," I say.

"you lived in a warehouse for _months_? And you were _seven_? Geez Beth," he says.

"Since then, my dad's tried to be there for me, but Helen still doesn't like me. My little brothers try to understand me, but they're six years younger than me and haven't seen what I've seen," I say. My eyes water, and I let my tears drop into my lap.

"Annabeth, I'm so sorry. I wish I could have been there to help you," he says.

"Perce, you've helped more than you could possibly know. Before I met you and Grover, I resented Dad and Helen. I refused to talk to them and basically became their problem child. But after hearing you talk about your mom and how you'd do anything for her because sometimes family is worth the trouble, I got inspired to try and give it a shot. So I wrote them a note on the fridge the night I got back, begging for forgiveness and explaining why I acted the way I did. And they forgave me. Well, somewhat. And here we are now. So you, Perseus Jackson, changed my life for the better," I say. He finishes his last letter, and glances at his phone.

"Twenty four minutes left," he says. I still have ten letters left, so I work quickly.

"Now what do you want to do?" I say, scooting my chair over to him.

"I dunno. We could sneak out back?" He says.

"The volleyball court is over there," I say.

"Ugh. We could sneak off to the tree on the hill and climb it?" He says.

"That sounds fun," I say, getting to my feet. I stretch up and feel my top ride up, exposing the scar on my stomach. We slip out of the big house and over to the tree. I go up first, then Percy follows. We end up on a branch out of sight from the ground below us.

"This is peaceful, ain't it?" He says. I look around.

"Yeah," I say. He looks down at me, with a soft smile.

"Annabeth, can I kiss you?" he says shyly. I turn my hat around and lean over, pressing my lips to his. My hand rests on his thigh, and he shivers a little. My tongue snakes its way between his lips, and he groans loudly. His hands move to my waist, pulling me closer to him.

"Hello?" Someone below us says. We pull apart, our foreheads touching. Percy grins. "Huh. I could have sworn I heard someone." They say. I run a hand through Percy's hair. The crunch of feet in dry grass and pine needles quiets as whoever was down there walks away.

"You taste like raspberries," he says.

"My chapstick," I say, grabbing his hand. He all of a sudden loses his balance and falls from the tree, taking me with him. I groan and get up, before giving a mock salute and jogging off to my campers. He goes the opposite way. The rest of the day goes without a hitch, and before I know it, it's time for our game of capture the flag.

"Alright campers! Our first Cabin vs Cabin game of the summer is Capture the Flag. Before we begin, let's go over some of the rules. No intentional physical harm, no ganging up on one camper, no maiming, no kidnapping, no climbing, and Zeus's Fist is off limits. Any questions? No? On the red team is Aphrodite, Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Hades, Ares, and Hermes. The blue team is Hera, Zeus, Hephaestus, Poseidon, Dionysus, Apollo, and Hecate." Chiron says.

"You're going down _Seaweed Brain_ ," I sneer.

"Yeah, in your dreams _Wise Girl_ ," he says.

"Red team! Huddle up!" I call.

"Blue team! Huddle up!" Percy yells.

"So what's the plan Chase?" Clarisse says.

"Okay we hide the flag in a really inconspicuous place, and we distract their flag's guards while someone sneaks up and snatches it. Percy's probably our biggest threat. He's perceptive, and insanely light on his feet. He's also got insane reflexes. But I can distract him and get him out of our way. Y'all take care of the rest," I whisper.

"You heard the woman! Move out!" Thalia says, before leading the kids over to the box of red team stuff. Apparently it's those mesh jersey type things that you'd find in your elementary school gym class. I grimace as I tie mine around my wrist, outright refusing to pull mine on.

"Okay, let's go!" Katie says. The red shirt somehow _works_ on her slender figure. We jog out into the woods.

"Peaches says we should put our flag over there," a girl dressed like a traffic light says.

"Who's Peaches?" I say.

"Her _creepy_ doll. I swear, that things gonna kill me in my sleep," Katie says. I look at where the girl is pointing. There's a hill, covered with boulders at the top.

"What if we hid it between the rocks up there?" Nico says.

"That'd be smart! If you're not looking for it, you won't see it!" Hazel says.

"Do it," I say.

"Okay runts!" Clarisse starts.

"Clarisse!" I interrupt, crossing my arms and giving her a warning look.

"Who's the fastest?" Clarisse says. A little girl from Thalia's cabin raises her hand.

"Okay, the fastest kids are in charge of getting the flag. The rest of you are in charge of distracting their guards. If they have Will guarding, someone needs to fake an injury," Travis says.

"Trav and I can cause a huge diversion and get some of them out of the way," Connor says.

"Okay, break!" I say, before jogging out into the woods to find the blue base. A little boy from Hermes follows behind me, acting as a scout. When the coast is clear, he's going to make some sort of animal sound to alert our team to snatch the flag. We come across the group of counselors standing in a circle around the blue flag. "Stay here. I'll get Percy out of the way," I say. I pull out my phone.

 _You: meet me behind Zeus's fist in five minutes ;)_

 _Percy: umm why_

 _You: because I miss you and we haven't seen each other since breakfast_

 _Percy: fine, only for you babe_

 _You: thanks honey :)_

 _Percy: I'll see you there_

"Okay, and he should be leaving his post in two minutes. Good luck," I say, before slipping away into the woods.

"Annabeth!" Percy hisses as I lean onto the pile of rocks.

"Oh, hi Percy," I say, stepping forward.

"Why'd you call me over here?" He says. I run my fingers across his chest.

"I wanted you," I smirk, my hand crawling under his shirt.

"Princess, this isn't you," he says, shivering. My hand stops on the small of his back.

"Come on Percy, do you really think that they're going to miss two people?" I say. I hear footsteps in the dirt. "Someone's coming! Hide!" I pull him down by his shirt collar, and we sit on the hard earth. I stretch upwards and press my mouth to his. He groans as I play with his lip ring, pulling it between my teeth. His calloused hands tug at the hem of my shirt. I shift so that I'm straddling his lap. We shift slightly, and I wiggle around in his lap. His hands run across my back, underneath my shirt. I feel a moan building in the back of my throat. I pull away for air.

"Annabeth," he groans. I shiver. His voice is husky and his eyes widen as he opens them.

"I've been wanting to do that all day," I mutter in between kisses.

"I'm glad you did," he pants.

"God, I hope nobody saw that. We'd never hear the end of it," I say. A horn blows loudly in the distance, signifying the end of the game. I get up and straight my shirt. "Wait three minutes after I leave, and then go," I say. He nods with a grin.

"See you at the campfire," he says. I sashay off and check for my campers. _Ones missing… who is it? Eric!_

"Oh no," I groan.

 _You: Baby can you help me?_

 _Percy: yeah what's up?_

 _You: one of my campers, Eric Thonius is still in the woods. Can you please please help me find him?_

 _Percy: what's he look like?_

 _You: maybe an inch or two shorter than me, dark brown hair, brown eyes, last seen wearing a red striped shirt and basketball shorts. He wears blue glasses too_

 _Percy: yeah babe I'll find him_

 _You: thank you thank you_

 _Percy: no problem_

 _You: I'm on my way back to help look_

I jog up to Chiron. "Chiron, Eric Thonius is missing. I'm going to go check the forest," I say.

"Take a satyr with you. They know the woods like the backs of their hands," he says.

"Hey Underwood! We gotta go through the woods real quick!" I yell. Grover jogs over.

"Why?" He says as Chiron leaves.

"Kid's missing. Percy's out searching already but we gotta help him," I say. We set out into the woods and Grover flicks on his flashlight.

"So Annabeth, where are you going to school?" He says.

"East River Academy for Gifted Girls," I shrug.

"Geez Anna Banana! I forgot how much of a genius you are," he says.

"What about you, Mister? What's your major?" I say.

"Environmental Science," he says.

"Oh, that's right! I remember that you wanted to come up with a way to decrease the amount of pollution that we create! How's that going?" I say.

"Oh you know, fine. I met a lot of people who want to help, and they're such a huge help to us. That's why I'm here this summer: to get some extra money to help the cause. And so I can take my girlfriend out on a real date," he says.

"What's your girlfriend's name?" I say.

"Her name's Juniper. She's a botany major. Actually, we met in high school, in the gardening club," he says.

"I remember that name… is she that girl that you had a major crush on while we were in captivity?" I say.

"Yeah. After we got freed, I told her how I felt. We've been together ever since," he says.

"Wow, look at you Mr Bravery! What happened to that skinny nervous kid we used to know?" I say.

"He grew up. We all did. I mean, look at you or Percy! You two are completely different from the little kids I used to know!" He says. A pair of arms wrap around my waist. I fidget with the black ring on the person's left index finger. _Percy!_

"Hey Percy," I say. He pinches my waist, and I let out a high pitched squeal.

"Hey Beth. Miss me?" He says. I squirm out of his grasp. Grover's just ahead of us.

"Eric? Eric can you hear me? Eric?" I call. Percy grabs my hand and I lean into him.

"Eric? Eric?" Percy yells. Grover's shouting Eric's name too.

"I hope he's alright," I say absentmindedly.

"He's probably fine. Listen to me Beth. Eric's a smart kid. He's probably looking for a way out right now," he says.

"Thanks Perce," I say. We go back to shouting.

"Hello?" I hear a young boy's voice call.

"Eric?" I yell.

"Annabeth?" the voice says.

"Stay right where you are buddy, we're coming!" Percy calls. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Guys, he's up that tree!" Grover says. I look where he's pointing. Up in the tall tree ahead, a little boy clutches the trunk for dear life while a group of birds screech and dive at him.

"How'd he get up there?" I say.

"Are these the Stymphalian birds that Chiron warned us about? You know, those ones with the razor sharp beaks?" Percy says, picking up a rock.

"Eric, duck!" I yell as Percy hurls the stone at a bird. The bird goes down, hitting the ground with a sickening crack. I tiptoe up to it and take a closer look. Its eyes are beady, and a menacing looking red color. Its beak gleams like bronze in the light of my flashlight. I can see traces of blood on its sharp mouth. Eric yelps up above me. "Get as many birds as you can!"

"What? I'm not killing- Woah!" Grover starts, ducking as a bird dives at his head. He sighs and picks up a rock, hurling it at a group of birds. I start throwing things, like rocks and sticks. The final bird eventually goes down, and I glance back at my friends. Grover has a large cut along his hairline, and tiny gashes along his arms and hands. Percy has a major cut across the palm of his left hand, and a cut across his cheek. I feel a sharp pain on my forehead and reach up to feel the cool stickiness of blood.

"Eric, do you think you can get down?" I say.

"I'll try!" He says brightly, already scrambling off the branch he's been sitting on. I limp back over to Percy and wince.

"Looks like we're getting another infirmary trip," I groan.

"Oh joy," Grover deadpans. Eric makes it down to the ground. There's a deep cut right above his eye, a cut across his chest, and tiny cuts all over his body.

"Annabeth? I feel funny," Eric says, before collapsing to the ground in a heap.

"Oh shit, oh shit shit shit," I say. Percy scoops him up and starts to stumble towards the main camp. Grover and I follow behind. We stumble out to the campfire, and everyone turns to look at us. Piper gasps.

"Are you okay?" Hazel says.

"Stymphalian birds are no joke," Percy grimaces.

"We're gonna take little Eric to the infirmary and clean him up," I say. We limp up the path, with Grover hobbling along in front of us. As soon as we're out of sight from the rest of camp, Percy turns to me.

"Are you okay babe?" He says.

"Yeah dork, I'm fine! I've had worse. Are you okay?" I say.

"I will be," he says. Eric groans and twitches. We stumble up to the infirmary in silence and lay Eric down on a bed. I grab several bandages and antiseptic solution.

"Okay Percy, this is going to hurt," I say.

"S'okay. I've gotten worse," he says.

"Hey, look at me," I say, before pouring the antiseptic into the deep gash on his hand.

"Ow! Shit fucking hell Jesus Christ!" He yelps.

"Language," I mutter, wrapping his hand. I put a little solution into the cut on his cheek and cover that up too.

"Okay nerd. Give me the antiseptic," he says. I shakily pass it over and clench my fists as the solution flows into my cut. It stings as though my body is being stung by hundreds of bees. He bandages it quickly. Grover is bandaging Eric's wounds, and seems pretty occupied, so I grab Percy's hand and lean onto his shoulder. He kisses the side of my head and then wraps an arm around me. I play with his ring again.

"Percy?" I whisper.

"Yeah?" He says.

"Thank you. For inspiring me to try and be better than I am. For teaching me that appearance doesn't matter," I say, twisting his ring.

"You know, if you like the ring so much, take it," he says.

"Oh, I couldn't. It's yours," I say.

"I want you to have it," he says, slipping the ring off his finger. I hesitantly pull it onto my right ring finger.

"Thanks Percy," I say. I glance down at the thin band of paler skin across his finger.

"Don't-" he starts.

"Annabeth, can you start filling out the incident report?" Grover says. His back is still to us.

"Umm, yeah, sure!" I say. I grab a pen and the slip of paper, and start filling out what I know. Eric groans and rolls over. Percy hums and twiddles his thumbs, his eyebrows knit together with worry. _He looks adorable like that. Wait what?_ I sign my name and collapse face forward into his lap. I can hear Eric's slight snores. I shut my eyes, letting them rest from the strain of the day.

"She looks so peaceful like that, don't you think?" Grover whispers after a minute or two.

"Yeah. Yeah she does," Percy says, brushing stray curls away from my face. I can practically hear the small smile in his voice.

"You like her, don't you?" Grover says with a knowing smile. I can't even see it. I just _know_ , based on the smug tone of his voice.

"She's a _friend_ G-Man. God, I swear sometimes you're as bad as Piper," Percy says.

"Whatever dude," Grover says.

"You're heading back?" Percy says.

"Yeah. See you tomorrow," Grover says. The door creaks open and then slams shut.

"Annabeth. _Anna_ , time to wake up," he whispers. I groan and sit up.

"Huh? Wassup?" I slur, before yawning.

"We gotta head back to cabins. I'll carry little Eric back to your cabin for you," he says. I get up and prop open the door for Percy. We stumble down the path to my cabin in silence, marked occasionally by the hoot of an owl up in the trees, or the rustle of leaves. Percy places Eric in his bunk, and I turn to face him.

"Thanks for carrying him back," I say.

"No problem babe. I'll see you at breakfast?" He says. I nod, and sit down at the foot of Eric's bed. He leans down and kisses my forehead before leaving. One of the Satyrs leads my campers in.

"Okay Athena cabin! Sorry for leaving so suddenly, but it's time to prepare for bed! shower groups, you know what to do!" I say, before grabbing my pajamas and heading for the bathroom, with my group hot on my heels. We all change and start silently getting ready for bed.

"Annabeth? Can I talk to you outside really quick?" Julia says.

"Of course Jules! What's up?" I say, opening the door to the front of the cabin. I'm sure we must've been a strange sight, two girls in pajamas, one in a pair of cotton shorts with pink flowers on them and an old pink tank top, while the other wears long pants with cookies on them and a shirt that reads 'Albert P Mendler Middle School Reading Olympics'. I shiver in the chilly evening air, and my exposed limbs develop goosebumps.

"I just need advice. You're older than me, so maybe you've had more experience with this sort of thing," she says.

"Julia, you don't have to be afraid. Just tell me. You won't get into trouble," I say.

"Ugh this is so embarrassing! But I need relationship advice. The guy I have a crush on at my school is here," she says.

"What cabin is he in?" I say.

"He's in Hecate. His name is Alabaster Torrington," she says. I think I've talked to the guy. All I remember of him is bright, almost glowing green eyes, shaggy brown hair, and freckles.

"And, lemme guess. You want to know how to talk to him without stumbling over words and making a fool out of yourself?" I say.

"How'd you know?" She says.

"Just a hunch," I say.

"So what do I do?" She says.

"Just… try to talk to him like he's not your crush. Talk to him like he's a friend. If he sees how funny and sweet you are, he'll eventually like you," I say.

"Do you really think so?" She says, her dark hair blowing behind her.

"I _know_ so," I say.

"I'll try. Thank you Annabeth," she says.

"It's what I'm here for: providing sisterly advice. Now come on, it's past lights out," I say. We head inside and turn off the lights, before I collapse into bed. I check my phone.

 _Percy: sweet dreams princess_

 _You: goodnight to you too_

I close my eyes and fall asleep to thoughts of black leather and green eyes. The days drift by lazily, the same old routine, same thing every day, pretending to fight, then going with our respective cabins for the day, only seeing each other at meals or the rare time that we manage to sneak away for a quick makeout. I find myself missing him, especially during cabin activities, when I have a front row seat to his shirtless body. But today is different. Since it's the Fourth of July, we have the fireworks tonight, meaning that the kids have free rein of the place (with a few satyr chaperones at every station of course), while the counselors clean up the beach and get ready for tonight. I'm excited. For once, Percy and I are together, cleaning up one section of the beach, a quarter mile radius around the lifeguard tower. I pick up some fallen branches from the storm the other night, then throw them into my garbage bag. It's a hot day, leaving us to occasionally wade in the water to cool off. Percy and I had long ago shed our excess clothing, leaving me in a blue bikini with a pair of denim shorts over top, and Percy in just a pair of black shorts.

"God, how much stuff can accumulate on a beach in one week?" Percy says, picking up trash. I wince with sympathy and nod. The place I'm cleaning up now has garbage and branches and trinkets all over it, some half covered in sand.

"Where are all these beer bottles coming from? The only two people old enough to drink here are Chiron and Mr. D!" I say, depositing my twentieth beer bottle into the bag.

"I know right? Anyways, you excited for the fireworks?" He says.

"Yeah, I guess. Why'd you ask?" I say.

"Just curious. You said you'd been to this camp before. I was trying to figure out if the fireworks are worth it or not," he says. We fall silent for awhile.

"It sucks that we have to clean the beach," I say, looking around. The area around me is clean. I scale the lifeguard tower and look around for anything left to clean. Besides the little wedge that Percy's working on, there's nothing left. I sit at the edge of the tower, twisting Percy's ring on my finger. Piper and Thalia noticed it, and that was the longest conversation of my life.

" _That's a cool ring Annabeth, where'd you get it?" Piper says._

" _Wait, I've seen that ring before. Where'd you get it Annie?" Thalia says._

" _It was a gift," I say, secretly admiring the black band._

" _Ooh, a gift? From who?" Piper says._

" _Percy," I squeak._

" _Kelp head gave you his ring?" Thalia yelps._

" _Umm, yeah? I mentioned that I liked the ring, and he was all like 'if you want it, you can take it'. What's the big deal?" I say._

" _Annie my dear, you are hopeless," she says._

" _Only you get away with calling me Annie by the way Thals," I say._

The floorboards creak beside me as Percy sits down.

"Can I take a nap?" He yawns.

"All our work is finished, so might as well," I shrug. He immediately places his head in my lap, and a few minutes later his breathing evens out. The constant worry and stress has disappeared from his face, and his slightly parted lips are pulled into a slight smile. He looks so young, and so peaceful. "Oh Percy, when are you going to get out from under Gabe?" I mutter, tracing my hand across a scar along his chin. I stare out at the water, imagining what Percy's life might be like without that monster.

 _He's knee deep in the water, wearing bright blue swim trunks, laughing and joking with his friends. I peer up at him over my book, and I bite back a grin._

" _Beth, are you really going to sit there and read all day?" He pouts._

" _Percy, you know that my English teacher assigned me reading over the weekend!" I say._

" _You've been at school all week! I've barely seen you since camp ended!" He whines. I roll my eyes._

" _East River is literally a ten minute subway ride from your house. You could've visited. And I've seen you! I slept over your house the other night!" I say._

" _Only because you crashed on the bed and neither of us had the heart to wake you," he says._

" _What about the time we met up with our old coworkers in Central Park? Or the time I helped you babysit Tyson? Or that time you fought that group of guys from my old school when we went to that movie theater you like? You know, the one where the seats recline all the way back? Anyways, we've seen each other," I protest._

" _Not nearly enough though! Come on babe, for me?" He says. I don't even have to look up to know that he's pulling his puppy dog face right now. I groan and put my book down. I stand up and turn my back to the guys before peeling off the dress I'm using as a coverup and jogging towards the water._

" _Happy?" I say, crossing my arms._

" _Very." he says, grabbing my arms. He leans down and presses his lips to mine. One of his friends, the one with the streak in his hair, whoops and hollers at us."Oh fuck off Ace." he says. I just laugh, for once happy at how my life's turned out._

His phone rings, snapping me out of my reverie. _Call from Mom 3_ .The woman on screen has curly brown hair with gray streaks, smile lines, and blue eyes. Her smile is wide, and you can almost forget about the bandages on her arms, almost out of frame. _Forgive me Percy_. I press accept.

"Hello? Percy?" The woman on the other side says.

"Percy's sleeping right now. He hasn't been sleeping well these past few days. Can I take a message Mrs Jackson?" I say.

"Who am I speaking to?" She says.

"I'm Annabeth Chase ma'am," I say.

"Ah, Annabeth! Percy's mentioned an Annabeth in his letters home. I'm assuming that's you?" She says.

"Yes ma'am," I say.

"Now you say Percy hasn't been sleeping well these past few days? Why is that?" She says.

"Some of his children have fears of storms, and he's had to comfort them. We had a monster of a storm last night, Mrs. Jackson. Not to mention the nightmares," I say apologetically.

"That's unfortunate," she says.

"Do you need me to pass along a message to Percy ma'am?" I say.

"Oh! Yes! Can you tell him that I'll be visiting for the next visitation day?" She says.

"I will. I hope to meet you there. Percy's told me all sorts of stories about you." I say. The bell rings for lunch. "Oh! I have to go Mrs Jackson. I'll tell Percy. See you on the twenty second!" I say. She hangs up. I shake Percy awake.

"Gah!" He yelps.

"It's lunch time. Your mother called. She's such a sweet lady," I say.

"You talked to my _mother_?" He says, climbing down the ladder. I follow suit. We pull on our shirts in silence. The counselors are all walking up the beach to the mess hall in silence.

"Hey Seaweed Brain," I say.

"Hmm?" He says.

"You know, my parents are coming to visit on the twenty second. I've told them about you, but not the whole _punk '_ scene kid from hell' thing you've got happening here," I say.

"' _Scene kid from hell_ '? Oh my god Wise Girl, I _hate_ you," he says, jokingly shoving me off the path.

"Sure, whatever you say," I smirk. I've started feeling more like my old self again.

"You're the worst," he says.

"Annie, Kelp Head! Can you go one day without fighting?" Thalia says from behind us. I slow down to fall into step with her.

"Hey Thals," I say.

"Hey Annie," she says, scratching at her sunburnt nose.

"How's your section?" I say.

"Oh, fine. Lou and I have made some pretty good progress. Yours?" She says.

"Percy and I have finished. So we're going to start setting up games and things after lunch," I say, staring straight ahead.

"Wow, you two are _quick_ ," she says.

"When we're not fighting or trying to kill each other, and we're a pretty good team," I say with a shrug, absentmindedly staring at Percy's back.

"Why _do_ you fight so much?" Piper says from Thalia's other side.

"It's just our friendship. We're total opposites so we tend to butt heads a lot, but we understand each other like nobody else does. Also we're both _insanely_ competitive," I say as we walk into the mess hall. The campers are seated at their respective tables, with two long tables open: one for the satyrs and one for counselors. I scoot into place next to Leo, across from Piper.

"Sup Wise Girl," Percy says, sliding in next to me.

"Hey Seaweed Brain," I say, before turning back to Piper, who's in the middle of a story.

"-so there I was, pressed up against the wall, with some jerk named Dylan inching closer to me, and all of a sudden, the wall gave way, and I fell," she says.

" _You_ fell into a canyon? The _Grand_ Canyon? How are you alive?" I yelp, rubbing Percy's leg with my foot. He makes a choking sound, but keeps his composure.

"Luckily, I landed on a ledge with only a broken arm and a sprained ankle," she says.

"Geez McLean," Percy says. He starts shoveling food into his mouth.

"Perce! You're gonna choke!" I say, bumping his knee with mine.

"Wait, if these cabins are all named after Greek gods, and we call our campers half bloods, does that mean that Heracles Prince from the Zeus cabin is technically the Half Blood Prince?" Leo says, biting into a French fry.

"Leo, that'd be Severus Snape," I deadpan, swiping one of Percy's potato chips.

"That dude from the snake house? What's it called, Slytherin?" Percy says.

"That sounds like an awful euphemism or something. Like 'hey bae lemme Slytherin those DMs'," Leo smirks. Piper shudders.

"Someone actually said that to me once," she says. I let out a shocked laugh and lean into Percy's arm.

"That is the worst pickup line _ever_ ," I giggle.

"What about you? Worst pickup line you've ever heard?" Piper says.

"Hmm, lemme see. Probably 'do you like pancakes? Well how about IHOP on that ass'. Yeah that was pretty bad," I shudder. Percy makes a strangled laughing sound, and Leo leans back, cackling.

"Gee thanks for ruining IHOP for me," Piper says.

"No problem Pipes," I say.

"I feel bad for laughing, but _oh_ my god," Percy says, wrapping an arm around my waist.

"Thalia! Worst pickup line you've ever heard!" Piper calls.

"'I hear you're looking for a stud. Well, I've got the STD and all I need is you'," Thalia deadpans. Percy gags.

"Oh my god, is this like a _thing_ now? Have all girls experienced god awful pickup lines like that? What the _hell_ is wrong with men these days?" Percy says.

"Calm down Perce. We're okay. Yeah it happens, but we've got some fun stories out of it." I say. He grabs my hand, and I smile. "Katie Kat, how about you? What's the worst pickup line you've ever heard?" I say.

"'Your boobs remind me of Mount Rushmore- my face should be among them'. Said by my partner for a history project. I can never see Mount Rushmore again," she says.

"At least he used proper grammar?" Leo says weakly.

"What about you Lou? Worst pickup line?" Piper says.

"'I like your butt. Can I wear it as a hat?'," Lou Ellen says.

"How would you even— _oh_ ," Percy says. Leo nods grimly.

"How about you Hazel?" I say.

"I haven't had any that are _that_ bad, but probably 'was your mother a beaver? Cause _damn_ '," she says quietly.

"What the hell? You're like twelve! We're screwed, we're all screwed if this is the next generation of boys," Leo says.

"Anything for you Juno? Worst pickup line?" Thalia says.

"Pick up lines are so _childish_!" She says. Percy rolls his eyes.

"Now I understand why literally every other counselor _hates_ Juno," he whispers.

"We should probably _go_ ," I whisper, getting up. Percy follows suit.

"See you at the picnic," he says to everyone. We throw away our trash and wander back to the beach. It's quiet. We climb back up the lifeguard tower and sit.

"It's so beautiful out here," I say, grabbing his hand. I look out at the Long Island sound in front of us.

"Yeah, it is," he whispers. I feel his eyes on the side of my face.

"Why are you staring at me?" I say.

"I just… I can't believe that you'd hang out with a screw up like me," he says. I cup his face.

"Perseus Jackson, you are _not_ a screw up. You're sweet, and kind, and crafty, and funny, and oblivious, and loyal. You are _nowhere_ near a screw up. Yes, you make mistakes, but we all do. You may screw up every once in awhile, but you aren't a screw up," I say.

"I'm sorry, Annabeth, if I was only _normal_ ," he says, glancing away from me.

"And you think _I'm_ normal? _Me_? The sexual abuse survivor, runaway, and ex kidnapping victim? News flash kid, nobody's normal! Normal doesn't exist! We're all strange in different ways. If you were 'normal', you wouldn't be the boy that I know and care about! What you perceive to be imperfections and faults, we see as pieces of the puzzle that makes up Percy Jackson," I say. He leans forward and presses his lips to mine.

"You're too good to me," he mutters, kissing me between each word.

"You need to give yourself more credit," I murmur.

"Hello? Anyone out here?" Rachel says. I open my eyes.

"Rachel," I say breathlessly. Percy scoots over.

"Rachel?" He says.

"Oh, h-hey Percy," she says. I realize that her hair is shaved at the back of her head, from roughly the middle of her ears to the nape of her neck.

"Hi Rachel, I _love_ your hair!" I say.

"Oh thanks," she says.

"What brings you to the beach?" He says.

"Oh, uh, I just needed a place to think," she says.

"About what?" I say.

"Just some things," she says.

"If you need anyone to listen, I'd be happy to help!" I say.

"Actually, that'd be great, would you?" She says.

"Sure! Let's just get out of Percy's way," I say, jumping off the tower and into the sand. We walk down the beach quite a ways away from him.

"Okay, can I just rant?" She says. I nod and take a seat.

"Go ahead," I say.

"Have you ever done something then realized much later that you've made a mistake?" She says. I nod. "Well that just happened to me. I broke up with Percy to go to Clarion. I didn't want to. My parents made me go. They didn't like the fact that their precious daughter was dating a punk like him."

"But he's so _sweet_!" I protest.

"Not back then he wasn't. He was this surly, sulking guy who got into fights every other day, judging from the scratches and bruises," she says. I wince. _Poor kid_.

"I'm sure he had his reasons," I say.

"Maybe he's changed," she says.

"When we first met, he was still surly and angry, but this year, he's changing. He promised me that he wouldn't get into fights unless it's absolutely necessary. He's trying," I smile,

"But then, I saw him again. But not the old Percy. Not the boy that I knew with the long shaggy hair, ripped clothes, and a terrible attitude. No, I met the _new_ Percy Jackson, the snarky kid who wears his leather jacket like a second skin,and smiles more than he lashes out. And you know what? I think I like that boy," she says. Instantly, the alarm bells in my head start going off, like _danger! Danger! Keep this girl away from Percy!_

"Do you want me to ask what Percy thinks of you?" I say.

"Would you?" She says hopefully.

"Okay. You broke his heart, you know. He really did care about you," I say.

"I regret it. I hope he can forgive me," she says.

"Oh, he's forgiven you," I say.

"I'm sorry Annabeth. This couldn't have been easy for you, listening to me talk about him like that," she says.

"What are you talking about?" I say.

"I know that he's started changing since you waltzed into his life, and hearing me talk about the type of guy he was before must've been difficult," she says carefully.

"I knew who he was when I came into this camp: back in the day, he was an impertinent, angry, cynical kid who just wanted to prove to the world that he wasn't such a delinquent. And that's okay with me," I say, getting to my feet.

"Thanks Annabeth. You know, Percy's lucky to have a friend like you in his life. God knows he could use a female perspective on things," she says.

"Good luck Rachel. I'll go ask Percy what he thinks of you," I say, before walking back towards Percy. He sits on the lifeguard tower, his bare back against the fence. I sit down next to him.

"Hey," he says.

"Percy? I have a question," I say, nervously twisting my ring.

"Shoot." He says. I give him a withering look. "Poor word choice, sorry. But what's up?" He says.

"What do you think of Rachel? Like could you ever see yourself with her again?" I say nervously.

"Beth, sweetheart, what brought this on?" He says, grabbing both my hands and staring into my eyes.

"I was just talking to Rachel, and she seems so nice, and completely apologetic about the whole thing, and she said that her parents forced her to break up with you," I start.

"She said that? I knew that Mr and Mrs Dare hated me, but geez," he says.

"And then she said that over a year later, she still likes you. Then I got to thinking. Would you really leave me behind and go back to her? Do you still secretly like her and are just using me to make her jealous?" I stammer.

"Of course I like Rachel. She's a cool girl, and a part of my heart will always wonder what might've been. But do I like her as in 'I want to date her' like her? No. That bridge was burned a long time ago. I can forgive her, but I'm not taking her back. I like you Annabeth. Why is that so hard for you to understand?" He murmurs.

"I'm sorry. I was just being paranoid," I say. He laughs, and I place my head into his lap. A hand strokes my hair, while his other rests on the ground. I close my eyes in bliss.

"God, she's so adorable. How could she ever think that I'd go back to Rachel after meeting someone like her?" he mutters. I bite my tongue to avoid grinning. He yawns and slowly stops running his hand through my hair as he falls asleep. I let drowsiness overtake me, lying in the sun with my head in Percy's lap, his hand in my hair, and a smile on my face. _This seems like the perfect place to curl up and read a good book._

"Give it back!" Someone calls. Percy jolts awake, and I sit up.

"Ugh, what time is it?" I groan.

"It's 3:54," Percy says, his voice raspy.

"What? I have to go get ready!" I yelp.

"Why? You look fine," he says, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"You're just saying that because you're hoping to sneak out to the woods tonight," I say.

"Fine. I can handle things from here. Go take care of your campers and yourself," he says.

"Thanks. I'll see you at five thirty? Try not to look too intimidating. I want to take pictures," I say, before scrambling up to the big house to find Chiron. From behind the third closed door on the left, I can hear Chiron's favorite cd. Percy's described it as a bunch of violins and a bunch of guys moaning in Italian, which isn't too far off. I slam my fist against the door, trying to be heard over the music.

"Come in," Chiron says, after turning off his boombox. I slowly open the door and peer in.

"Um hi Chiron. I was just wondering around what time the campers are coming back to the cabin to get ready for the party?" I say.

"We've told the satyrs to bring them back at 4:30. Is that all?" He says.

"Um, no. Last night, we had three campers caught by the harpies. Were you informed that those three have been on dish duty all day? Also, would you like me to start pulling together waivers and things for our upcoming trip?" I say.

"That'd be wonderful," he says.

"Have a nice evening sir," I say. He's leaving soon to go to a family barbecue about an hour north.

"You too Ms Chase," he says, before the door shuts behind me. I go back to my cabin to start getting ready, quickly hopping into the shower. I decide to leave my hair down, but I slip my trusty black hair tie back onto my wrist, just in case. I'm almost done my makeup, and about to apply my lipstick when the girls from my cabin come in.

"Oh hi girls! You know you still have another ten minutes left before you have to be back, right?" I say.

"We wanted to get ready early so we could go hang out with our friends," Minnie says.

"Ah, of course! Can't blame you," I say.

"I call shower first!" Julia says.

"Ugh, Jules!" Nellie whines. I just laugh. Minnie sits on the floor near her bed and starts rifling through her clothing. I head to the bathroom to go change. When I come out, the girls are all getting ready. I roll up the sleeves of my denim jacket and start to clean up the cabin a little. It's a bit hard to bend over and pick things up in my dress, but I manage.

"Has anyone seen my shoes?" Angie says, walking around the cabin barefoot. I glance around and find two red sandals at the foot of her bed.

"Is that them?" I say, pointing to the shoes.

"Oh! Thank you Annabeth," she says. "Don't mention it," I say. The boys tumble into the cabin, laughing and whooping. The bandage on Eric's head is colored a reddish brown. "Eric, come with me. You've gotta get your bandages changed," I say.

"Alright Annabeth," he groans. I lead him up to the infirmary and sit him down on a bed. Will is there, offering Nico an aspirin. I slowly peel the once white strips from around his head. There's a large scab, and a strip of pale skin, damp with the sweat that accumulated underneath the bandage.

"I think we can just give you a bandaid for that now," I say.

"Bandaids are in the cabinet to the right of the sink," Will says.

"Thanks." I grab the bandaid and put it on the cut. "And we're good to go."

"Thanks," Eric says.

"See you tonight!" Will calls as we leave. We walk back in silence, and I collapse onto my bed, watching the others wandering around looking for their things. I pass the time by texting the other counselors, mainly Thalia.

 _You: omg kill me_

 _Thals: what's up Annie_

 _You: my campers. They're so sweet, but they're so prideful and arrogant sometimes. One tried to climb the roof the other day because I said he couldn't_

 _Thals: my girls are pretty good. Just a little bit violent sometimes. One made me this silver wire headband in metals the other day_

 _You: that's adorable Thalia_

 _Thals: thanks. Meanwhile, Nico's dealing with some really emo kids, Jason's got some really arrogant aspiring fuckboys, and Percy's got the weird fish kids_

 _You: makes sense. Percy's basically part fish already_

 _Thals: did you hear what happened to Piper the other day?_

 _You: what happened?_

 _Thals: when we had a counselor meeting, one of her campers tried to take over the cabin. It was awful_

 _You: my money's on that Tanaka girl. She's been gunning for Piper's job/power all summer_

 _Thals: Pipes came back to find teen heartthrob posters everywhere, severe punishments, ridiculous rules, and a bunch of scared kids. She's still worried about them_

 _You: these campers I s2g. Lou's kids tried to sneak out of camp, but they got caught by Peleus_

 _Thals: who's going to be next? Leo's kids tried to build a stink bomb and nearly caused a fire_

 _You: I heard that Trav and Connor's kids got busted rummaging through the camp store at night_

 _Thals: I swear you let the kids have a little freedom and they go batshit crazy_

 _You: ikr_

 _Thals: gotta go. See you at the fireworks_

 _You: bye_

The red flower crown in my hair rustles as I walk, and gather up my campers, who all look adorable, albeit a bit odd, in clothes beside their normal camp wear.

"Ready to go kids?" I say. I open the door and lead them down the path, seeing the other counselors clad in red white and blue. Even Nico dons bright colors, which is a first for this summer. Thalia, of course, dressed in her own way, swapping out the laces of her sneakers for red and blue laces, donning a white shirt, and carrying an American flag. My campers scatter as soon as we reach the beach, and I pop my shoes off before walking over to the other counselors. Frank's wearing red and white and carrying a small Canadian flag.

"Hey Frankie, what's with the Canada stuff?" I say, sitting beside Piper. Piper's wearing one blue shoe and one red shoe, along with a pair of white speckled overalls. Her braid has a red feather sticking out of it.

"Born and raised Canadian. Moved here for school," he says.

"Hey guys," Percy says. I glance up at him. He's wearing a red flannel, white shirt, and blue jeans.

"Percy Jackson in colors other than black? What has the world come to?" I joke.

"Oh shut up-" he starts, turning slightly to face me. His jaw drops.

"Close your mouth Seaweed Brain, you'll catch flies," I joke.

"Where's Juno?" Katie says, looking around. She's wearing a pair of red white and blue patterned pants, and a blue shirt.

"Do you really think she'd hang with us? She hates us all," Hazel says quietly.

"Her loss. I think we're great," Thalia says.

"Hi Rachel!" I say.

"Oh hi Annabeth," she says, adjusting the brim of her straw hat.

"What's new Rach?" Will says.

"Oh you know, just painting. It's kinda boring honestly," she says.

"You know Rach, you could start a painting class if you wanted," I say.

"Yeah, you're an amazing artist. I still have that board you did for my fifteenth birthday," Percy says. I clench my jaw, and Percy places his hand on top of mine. I glance over at him.

 _Jealous?_ His expression seems to say. I roll my eyes and elbow him in the side.

"Thanks guys. Maybe I will," she says. Her skin is covered in paint and doodles.

"The fireworks are supposed to go off in an hour and a half," Leo says, glancing at his watch. We all groan.

"Annabeth, can I talk to you for a sec? It's about the scavenger hunt and what exactly we're doing," Percy says.

"Yeah sure! Be right back guys," I say. We head off the beach and into the shadowy woods. "What's up?" I say. Percy wraps his arms around my waist and slams his lips against mine.

"You looked so good," he says. I laugh quietly and snake my arms around his neck. The air is filled with the quiet sounds of kisses, marked with the occasional quiet groan.

"Mmm. We probably sound like really horny teenagers right now," I murmur, pressing my lips to his jaw, peppering it with small kisses.

"Mmm, I hope nobody sees us. We'd be put on probation instantly," he groans. His hand grazes my hip, and I groan.

"The others are probably wondering where we are by now," I whisper.

"Just a few more minutes," he whines. I press my lips against his again, before slipping my tongue into his mouth. He groans around it and his hands on my hips tighten.

"God, why is this so hard?" I whine, after falling off my tiptoes for the third time. He just shrugs. "Oh crap! We've gotta go!" I say. I check my lipstick and note a few minor smears on the edges of my mouth and a ton of lipstick stains on Percy's face. His pupils are huge, and his eyes slightly glassy. I wipe the lipstick off of him, and lead him back to the beach and the others.

"Thanks for the clarification," he says as we plop down at the edge of the blanket.

"No, I'm telling you! They're totally dating!" Piper says.

" _Please_ , I know him. There's no way," Rachel says.

"He has _pet names_ for her!" Katie says.

"He has the habit of nicknaming friends and relatives. He's got nicknames for all of us," Rachel says.

"Denial isn't just a river in Egypt," Piper says in a sing songy voice.

"You know him! Thalia, Jason, Nico, what's the first thing Percy Jackson does when he gets a girlfriend?" Rachel says.

"Gush nonstop about her to his family," Thalia says.

"Right. And as you three are the only easily accessible members of his family here, would it make sense to assume that he'd be talking about her to you?" Rachel says.

"Well, sure," Jason says.

"And has he?" Rachel says, crossing her arms across her chest.

"No," Nico says.

"And there's my point! Percy and Annabeth are _not_ together," she says.

"Well that was an interesting conversation," I deadpan.

"Aww, you've picked up your snark from me," Percy jokes, pinching my cheeks.

"Oh hey guys, how long have you been here?" Travis says.

"Long enough," I shrug.

"While we appreciate your concern, the two of us are just friends," Percy says, squeezing my hand.

"And if we _were_ to date? Well, that wouldn't be any of your business, now would it?" I smirk. Percy smirks back at me and the others groan.

"We just want the best for you two," Thalia says.

"Yeah, believe it or not, we do care. We're your friends. We want you to be happy. And we've noticed how happy you've gotten since the summer started," Nico yawns, leaning into Will.

"I can be happy!" Percy yelps.

"Please. The closest to _happy_ that I've ever seen you is smug yet cautiously optimistic," I deadpan.

"Oh hush," he says. Frank hooks up Will's iPod to Leo's tiny portable speaker. Some generic pop song that's probably very popular on the radio begins to play. The sun is finally starting to set. Percy halfheartedly fidgets with a loose thread on his shirt.

"The harpies just set up the table of food by the way," Clarisse says, sitting down.

"Aw sweet! Want me to grab you something Beth?" Percy says, getting to his feet.

"A burger and a bag of chips would be great. Thanks honey," I say.

"No problem," he says, before walking off to the table.

" _Honey_?" Travis says incredulously.

"What? I'm from the south. I still slip up from time to time," I say.

"Where?" Hazel says.

"Nearly eleven years of my life spent in southern Virginia, then I came up here. Now my folks are out in California, but I stayed behind to finish up school," I say.

"That explains so much," Piper says.

"Yeah Perce says that I still have the accent. It was much worse when I was younger. Do you know how hard it is to work together when you have a kid with a super thick New York accent, a kid with a super thick southern accent, and a nervous vegetarian kid trying to band together?" I say.

"Jeez," Lou Ellen says.

"I learned a lot from those days," I say.

"Here ya go," Percy says, slumping beside me.

"Question. What's the stupidest thing that you've ever done?" Hazel says.

"Um, maybe that time I piggybacked a Fury?" I say.

"A _Fury_? You hopped on the back of a member of the most dangerous gang on Ninth Avenue? Dang, Annabeth, respect!" Thalia says.

"I thought you were going to say when you blew up the greyhound bus," Percy says.

"Perce, she had a _whip_. _A whip that she somehow lit on fire and was smacking people with it_. The bus was a consequence of that," I say.

"True. I still have the scar around my wrist from that whip. What kind of crazy person carries a _flaming_ whip anyway? Who does that?" He says.

"She does, I guess," I say.

"Anyways, so mine is probably the snake incident. I busted a hole in a national monument trying to get away from a crazy lady and her pet from hell. This thing _bit_ my leg, and I nearly died from its poison. I found out later that this lady brought a _spitting cobra_ onto this elevator. I blew up the monument while under the influence of the venom, so I have no idea how I did it," he says.

"So you nearly got yourself arrested because of a _snake_?" I say.

"It totally was an accident!" He yelps.

"I think that the dumbest thing I've ever done was to climb up a tree and then refused to climb down. Jason set up a pulley system and sent food and water up to me. I lived in that tree for six weeks," Thalia says.

"Mine was probably that time that I broke into the car of the principal of my last school, rubbed poison ivy and poison oak all over every surface in there. He missed the next week of school after that. Something about a dreadful allergic reaction," Piper shrugs.

"Jesus Pipes!" Travis says.

"Mine might be the furry incident. Okay so I lost a bet to my friends, and I was forced to attend a furry convention. In a full fursuit. In July. Anyways, so I saw this dude. Real sort of an awful guy. He came after me, and I attacked him. He ended up in the hospital," Frank says.

"How was the convention though?" I ask jokingly.

"Every second that I was there, I wanted to light myself on fire. It was _torture_ ," he says. I laugh, and press my face into Percy's arm.

"How about you Katie?" I say.

"The time that I hopped the fence at the Museum of International Masks and Puppets and spent the night inside for fifty bucks," she says.

"I'm sorry, the Museum of _what_?" Hazel says.

"Puppets. I swear, their eyes were following me everywhere I went," Katie says. I shudder.

"Oh, the dumbest thing I've ever done? I once chugged three bottles of hot sauce for a hundred and fifty dollars. Yeah, that was… something," Travis says. Jason cringes.

"I once went through a car wash in the bed of a truck. While wearing nothing but a pair of swim trunks, a shower cap, and a snorkel. In December," Connor says.

"Is it bad that I can picture that?" I mutter. Percy bursts out laughing.

"I mean once, I lost a bet to Fish Boy here." Nico says, pointing his thumb at Percy, who shrugs in response. "He made me put on a bright pink bikini and flippers and stand in Times Square for an hour. I think someone still has pictures of that." I shudder, and elbow Percy in the gut.

"Percy! That's just cruel," I say.

"I dressed up as a Girl Scout and went dorm to dorm selling cookies with a member of my school's basketball team. Skirts are the most uncomfortable thing I've ever worn," Jason says.

"Girl Scout skirts are awful. They're super stiff, super scratchy, and super unflattering. That's why I got rid of mine as soon as I quit," I say.

" _You_ were a scout?" Percy says.

"Ugh, yeah, it was so awful. My stepmom made me do it," I groan.

"Ah, the infamous Helen Chase," he says.

"I once fought an alligator. Thing took a chunk out of my shoulder," Clarisse says, lifting her sleeve to show the small divot in her skin.

"Jesus," Hazel says.

"And I thought that I was bad," Leo says.

"What's yours?" I say.

"I once soaked myself in alcohol and lit myself on fire. Still haven't lived bthat one down. It's why I got sent to the Wilderness School for Troubled Youths. Well that and constantly running away," he says.

"Wait, you're a runaway too?" I say.

"Wait what? Annie, _you_ ran away from home?" Thalia yelps.

"Yeah, so?" I say defensively.

"I'd just never expect it from someone like you," Piper says.

"I would. Annabeth's one of the most hardcore badass girls I've ever seen. She once judo flipped a man that was over a foot taller than her, spit in his face, then made a run for it. Of course, she got caught shortly afterwards and came back with a black eye and a split lip, but still," Percy says.

"Damn Chase! A little thing like you managing to do all of that?" Clarisse says.

"Oh shut up, mister 'I'm four foot ten but I can _totally_ vault over someone's head and scale a building like a _freaking_ monkey or some other crazy shit'," I say, elbowing him in the side.

"What can I say, I've had practice avoiding people. I live in East Harlem, of course I know how to evade weirdos," he shrugs. I wince.

"If you need, you can room with me at East River. I put in for a single this year, but they always have two beds to a room," I say, poking his side.

"Think about how many questions you'd have to answer if they saw a guy like me constantly entering and exiting your room," he says quietly.

"Perce, if they think we're strange, they can go suck the headmaster's dick. That's how Ashley Renoldi got the varsity cheer squad new uniforms," I shrug. Thalia cackles, and Piper spits out her soda.

"You can't just say things like that!" Hazel yelps, fanning her face.

"We all know it. Headmaster Simmons is a creep," I shudder.

"Anyways, let's move on from the potentially pedophilic headmaster," Jason says.

"So um… what are you guys planning on doing with your vacation days?" Leo says

"Visiting my mom and my friends," Percy says immediately.

"Who knows? Maybe set up my dorm room, wander around the city for a few days, fill out some college applications," I say.

"No clue. Maybe sleep in and relax," Piper says.

"Catch up on TV," Leo says.

"I'm gonna visit my aunt Sally's candy shop, and sleep in. Maybe say whatever I want without having to worry about the campers," Thalia says.

"Maybe go to McDonald's? I have no idea," Nico says.

"Go check in on my horse," Hazel says.

"I'm gonna shoot some hoops in Central Park," Jason says.

"I'm gonna go to Times Square," Will says.

"Cause chaos. It's my thing. Maybe mess with the sad people in costumes in Times Square," Lou Ellen says.

"No clue. Maybe pranks?" Travis says.

"Definitely pranks," Connor nods.

"I'm going to visit the New York Botanical Gardens," Katie grins.

"Visit the Met," Rachel says with a smile.

"I'm going to visit the Statue of Liberty," Frank says. Pollux and Castor just shrug. I hum along to the song on the radio, as I slowly scoot into Percy's lap. His arms secure themselves around my hips, and his chin rests atop my shoulder. The song changes to some random slow song.

"This song reminds me of all of my school dances," Piper shudders.

"The last school dance I went to, I tackled the Vice Principal," I deadpan.

"I think I was there! Westover, 3 years ago?" Percy yelps.

"I think? I snuck in. Don't remember why," I say.

"Same! I wanted to visit Nico," he says.

"Wait, you were the girl that tackled Vice Principal Thorn? Oh my god, you're my hero!" Nico says.

"I'm sorry?" I say.

"After that night, he quit, which was absolutely great, since he was awful," he says.

"You're welcome, glad I could help," I snark.

"At least one of us had a positive school dance experience in middle school," Piper grumbles.

"Remember to leave room between you for the Holy Spirit," I say, my voice sickly sweet.

"Ah yes, the middle school slow dance. Never actually did it. I played basketball in the corner with the other guys," Percy says.

"It's so awkward. Come on, I'll show you. Hey Pipes, wanna help me demonstrate the worst part of school dances?" I say. She gets to her feet, and I follow suit.

"Since I'm taller, I'll lead," Piper says, placing her hands on my waist and standing as far away as possible. I place my hands on her shoulders.

"Okay, yep, I definitely remember this," I say as we sway back and forth.

"All we need now is a teacher coming around measuring the space between us," Piper says. The others are all laughing. The song ends, and we separate, jokingly bowing.

"Thank you, thank you all," I say, before sitting back between Percy's legs. His phone rings.

"Sup," he says. I can't make out what the boy on the other side says. "Yeah, not much, just been hanging with the other counselors. Oh hang on, Little RED's here if you want to talk to her. Okay," he says, before passing the phone to Rachel.

"Hey Xander. Yeah, I'm at Percy's camp. It's pretty fun actually, I just paint and occasionally help out. Poor Jackson's out there with the kids. Asking if Percy Jackson's gotten into trouble is like asking me if my parents still want me to be a _lady_. Guaranteed. Actually, he hasn't been as bad as usual. His old friend Annabeth's kept him in check. She's pretty cool," Rachel says, pausing every once in awhile to let the person on the other end talk.

"Rach, you gonna hog my phone all night or what?" Percy says. I squeak as his fingers dig into my sides. "No way, are you _ticklish_?"

"No. _No_. Seaweed Brain, I swear if you try to tickle me, I'll kill you," I say.

"Fine," he whines.

"Okay, bye. See you soon!" Rachel says. She passes the phone over to Percy again.

"Um, yeah, so I'll see you when I get back," he says, before hanging up.

"Five minutes till fireworks!" Leo says. We all turn to the water. Percy's fingers drum on my hips. Rachel is picking at a loose thread, and Piper curls up against Jason. Will laughs and ruffles Nico's hair, as Thalia sips her soda. Lou Ellen is hugging her knees to her chest and staring out at the lies back on the sand. Hazel and Frank are talking amicably about something, and Frank stumbles over his words every so often.

"Hey Rachel?" Percy says.

"Hmm?" She says.

"I just wanted you to know that I don't blame you for what happened. It's not your fault that you got shipped off to that prissy princesses academy. It's okay, I'm not upset or anything anymore," he says. I start to feel incredibly awkward, as if I'm intruding in on a conversation.

"Thanks Perce. Can we just start over?" she says, her cheeks pink.

"I'd like that," he says, with a wide smile. _Oh no no no no no. Rachel can not get back into Percy's heart. I have to put a stop to this. Wait what? Get a grip Chase! Percy told you that he didn't want Rachel Elizabeth Dare. He says he wants you. Rachel isn't a threat! Don't be that bitchy clingy girl._ The sky above the sea explodes into bright colors.

"Wow," I breathe, staring up as the sky flashes all the colors of the rainbow.

"Happy Fourth of July, Princess." Percy mutters in my ear. I grin, listening to the loud chatter of the kids. The fireworks end with an explosion of red, white, and blue. I turn around, and see Piper and Jason tangled up in each other, their lips touching. I elbow Percy in the ribs, and point him towards the pair. "Knew it. Thals owes me twenty bucks." He says. I laugh.

"You idiot," I say affectionately. He laughs and presses his lips to my shoulder. Clarisse stands up.

"Yo! Chiron gave me sparklers for all of you," she calls.

"Prissy, Princess," she says, tossing the boxes of sparklers at us.

"It's Percy," he grumbles.

"So uh, we need lighters for these," Thalia says, glancing at the directions.

"By the way Thals, you owe me twenty bucks," Percy smirks.

"Ugh, what? What for?" She yelps.

"You lost that bet about Jason and Piper," I supply.

"Dammit!" She says. I laugh and hoist Percy up onto his feet.

"Language," Hazel calls. I light a sparkler and grin as Percy takes a picture of me. He turns his phone around and shows me the caption. _Happy Fourth of July from abchase_

"Did you really have to tag me?" I say as my phone buzzes. I unlock it, and drop my phone with a shaky gasp. _castellan22: hey Annabeth, haven't seen you in a while. Want to meet up for dinner or something? Maybe talk about us?_

"What is it? What's wrong?" Percy says

"Lu-Luke just texted me for the first time in months. He asked me out to dinner, and said that he wanted to talk about us. Oh _god_ ," I stammer, starting to panic as I pick up my phone. Percy grabs my hand and leads me into the forest.

"Okay, okay. You can do this. Deep breaths. Do you feel ready to message him?" He says.

"of course not!" I yelp.

"Then I can, if that's okay for you?" He says.

"Knock yourself out," I say, tossing him my phone. He types for a few minutes.

"This okay?"he says. I read the message. _Fuck off Luke. There is no us. U ruined my life, plus I'm seeing someone new. Have a nice life dickwad_

"Perfect," I say. Within a minute of the message being sent, Luke responds.

""Oh! He said 'I don't believe you. Who is he? Send me a pic of the two of you'," Percy says.

"Wanna pose for a fake pic for Luke?" I smirk.

"Let's do it," he says, snaking his arm around my waist.

"Should I hold the camera?" I say.

"I got it," he says. He presses his lips to my forehead and snaps a picture.

"That's cute," I say. In the picture, my eyes are closed, and I have a wide smile on my face. Percy's lips are curled up into a slight smile, and his eyes are shut. I press send. _See Luke? I don't need you!_

"He says that you could do so much better," Percy frowns.

"Give me that," I say. He nervously passes me my phone. _First of all, jackass, my relationship is none of your business. Just because you ran me out of Appleton doesn't mean that you own me. Do you know how long it took me to rebuild after what you did? He's a better guy than you ever were and than you will ever be. He'd never hurt me like you did. So go keep your jealousy to yourself Castellan. I'm over it._ I press send and shove my phone into my pocket.

"I'm sorry about him," he says.

"Don't be. He's wrong. You're a great guy, Percy," I say.

"Thanks babe," he murmurs, before kissing me so hard that I stumble backwards into the trunk of a tree. I jump up and wrap my legs around his waist, quietly whining into his mouth. I pull away with a soft _plop!_

"What was that for?" I pant, touching my sweaty forehead to his.

"No reason. You just looked _incredibly_ beautiful in the moonlight," he says.

"You sap," I groan, placing my feet back on the ground.

"Yeah, but I'm _your_ sap," he says, leading me back towards the others. My heart begins to pound.

"He-hey Pipes," I say, sitting down beside her. Percy continues onwards.

"Hi Annabeth," she says.

"Do you and Jason, huh?" I say.

"So you and Percy, huh?" She says.

"What are you talking about?" I say.

"You two have been flirting with each other almost all summer," she says.

"No we haven't!" I yelp.

"You two tend to disappear off into your own little world whenever you're together. It's weird. Like I'll glance over at the two of you and you'll be in that little impenetrable bubble. I call it 'Percabeth Land'," she says. I blush bright red.

"Guys, I'm not going to do it!" Percy yelps.

"Come on dude! I'll give you my next paycheck if you go over and kiss Chase," one of the Stolls says.

"Fine, but if she kills me, I'm gonna come back just to haunt your ass," he grumbles, before coming over to me.

"Hey Perce-" I start.

"Hey Beth please don't be mad, but Connor just said he'd give me his next paycheck if I kiss you right now and I really need the money so um-" he says, barely pausing to breathe. Piper glances back and forth between us as though she's watching a tennis match. I laugh nervously.

"Breathe Per-" I start, before he slams his lips on mine. My eyes widen, and then it's over.

"Sorry!" He yelps, before sprinting away.

"What was that?" Piper says. I touch my lips and smile softly.

"No idea," I say.

"No _way_ ," Connor says.

"Pay up Con-man," he smirks, adjusting the collar of his shirt. He glances back at me with an infuriatingly attractive wink, and I blush.

"Did I just see what I thought I saw?" Thalia says.

"Maybe," I say coyly.

"Did Percy Jackson just brazenly kiss you?" She says.

"Possibly," I say.

" _Shut up_!" She says, smacking my shoulder.

"It probably doesn't mean anything. Connor Stoll said he'd give him his next paycheck if he kissed me," I shrug. Thalia groans.

"You're hopeless. The both of you. I can't be the only one to have noticed, right?" She says.

"Notice what?" I say.

"You two are so _clearly_ crushing on each other. It's sickening," she says loudly.

"Will you keep it down! I do not have a crush on Percy! He's just my best friend," I say.

"Oh, no friendship I've ever seen is like that one. There's clearly something there," Piper says.

"No there's not!" I yelp, biting back the lovesick grin that I'm surely developing. "I need to talk to Rachel. See you later." I get up and walk over to Rachel, my feet sinking in the sand. "Hey." I say.

"What was that? Do you like Percy? Oh gosh," she says.

"Rachel, breathe. Everyone else at camp thinks that we're together, but we're just friends. It's okay. Anyways, so Percy kissed me because Connor from Hermes said that he'd give him his next paycheck if he kissed me. And he needed the money, so he did. It meant nothing," I say.

"Why does Percy need the money?" she says.

"I didn't ask. Maybe he's saving for a new guitar? Or to fix his bike?" I say.

"Hmm, what bike?" she says.

"He drives a motorcycle. I thought you knew?" I say.

"No! The last time I saw him, he still skateboarded everywhere," she says.

"He says that he only uses the motorcycle when he's going really far, so it normally sits in a garage," I say.

"I feel like I don't know him as well as I thought I did," she says.

"I'm sure he's just changing since you last spoke, that's all," I say. I'm sure we must look like quite the pair: two girls with frizzy curls sitting side by side, one a girly girl in a dress, and the other an artsy punk girl with a partially shaved head. Deep down I feel self conscious about how huge my hair looks tonight, but it's so far in the back of my mind that it almost seems like an afterthought. I hum absentmindedly and shift to try and rid myself of some of the sand in my clothes. I can see Percy out of the corner of my eye, laughing and whooping as he runs around. All of a sudden, a loud explosion rings in my ears. I screech and jump to my feet, ready to run. Percy collapses to the ground, flattening himself out as much as possible. I start to tremble. My mouth goes dry and I swallow heavily. The world around me spins in huge circles. _I feel smaller, thinner, more vulnerable. I stare at my reflection in the small shard of mirror on the floor. My face is gaunt, my curls frizzy. There's a streak of dirt across my nose. I wince when I see the state of my clothing: a filthy red and white striped shirt, destroyed black jeans, and black combat boots. "Percy, don't do this!" I beg._

" _Annabeth I have to. You need to get out of here. You have a chance for a better life, maybe I can buy the two of you some time," he says._

" _You don't have to do this man. There has to be another way!" Grover says._

" _This is the way it has to be. You're the two best friends this screw up's ever had," Percy says._

" _No. You're not going out like this. I'm not letting you leave me too!" I sob, helplessly tugging on his hands._

" _Hey, Annabeth? Can you do me a favor? Go out and be an architect for me. Build that permanent thing you've always wanted. G-man? Go change the world. Save nature. Promise me," he says._

" _I promise," Grover says gravely. The truck we're held captive in begins to bounce around. I grab the strings of Percy's jacket and press my mouth to his._

" _Come back alive, Percy," I say. The door to the truck opens and my vision goes white. When I can see again, the three of us are on the beach. Our captor lurks a few feet away._

" _Good luck Percy," Grover says._

" _We're with you every step of the way," I say, untying a leather cord from my wrist. I quickly tie it around his wrist._

" _Thank you so much you guys. For everything. And if I die here, I want you two to run as far away from here as you can. Try to escape," he says. Grover and I crush him into a hug._

" _Kick his butt," Grover says. Percy pulls the stolen gun out of his pocket._

" _I'll see you on the flip side," he smirks, before sauntering up to the angry man. The air is filled with the loud sounds of gunfire, and a yelp rings out. I glance up in shock. Percy stands triumphantly, pointing the gun down at our captor, who has collapsed with a bullet in his leg. The air around us smells of smoke._

" _Is something burning?" Grover wheezes. A car in the parking lot explodes into flames, and the force of the explosion knocks me to the ground._

" _Now. You're going to let us go, and I won't kill you. Got it?" Percy snarls, his eyes ablaze with fury._

" _Malibu Beach Police! Drop your weapons!" A police officer yells._

" _We're over here!" I yelp, spitting out sand._

" _Percy!" Grover says, hobbling forward. I get up and stagger towards them._

" _You survived," I gasp._

" _I made you a promise, didn't I?" He smirks. I punch him in the gut._

" _Dammit Percy! You had me worried sick! I thought I was about to lose someone else!" I sniffle._

" _I'm sorry," he says. I touch his arm and recoil in horror when red blood runs across my hand. Grover retches._

" _You're bleeding. You've been shot," I gasp, sitting him down. His face is gaunt, his hair sticking up every which way. His eyes are glazed over with pain._

" _Okay son, what's your name?" The police officer says, squatting in front of us._

" _My name is Perseus Jackson, but I go by Percy," Percy grimaces as I desperately apply pressure to the gunshot wound._

" _I'm Annabeth Chase, sir," I say, my lips cracked and my voice raspy._

" _And I'm Grover Underwood," Grover says, chewing nervously on his fingernails._

" _Wait. You're the three kids that went missing in New York three weeks back and have been spotted all over the country," the man says. An ambulance tears into the parking lot._

" _Hang on Percy. The ambulance is here. You're going to be okay," I murmur, pushing his hair off of his forehead._

" _Annabeth!" Grover yelps. Three more ambulances pull into the lot._

" _What Underwood?" I call._

" _According to Officer Alecto, we all have to get into the ambulances," he yells._

" _Alright," I say._

" _Thanks Annabeth," Percy coughs. His eyes are starting to dim._

" _No. No. Don't you dare pass out on me Percy," I say. Four stretchers are wheeled onto the beach, and two EMTs gingerly lift Percy up and place him on the stretcher. They pull an oxygen mask over his face, and his eyes close. I squeeze his hand before climbing onto my own stretcher. The oxygen mask goes over my face, and I lean back. Grover is loaded onto his stretcher too, his eyes closed. Our captor is groaning through his oxygen mask. I fall asleep in the back of the ambulance. When I wake up, I'm alone in a hospital room, an IV dripping some clear liquid into my bloodstream. My mouth feels dry and gross. An officer sits at the foot of my bed._

" _Good Afternoon Miss Chase. I'm Officer Simpson. Would you mind answering a few questions?" The officer says._

" _Where's Percy? Where's Grover? Are they okay? Oh god please tell me that they're okay," I croak._

" _Your two companions are doing alright. Mr Underwood is getting his legs checked, and Mr Jackson is recovering from his surgery. Now, would you mind telling me what you were doing just before you got abducted?" The officer says._

" _I was walking home from the library. I volunteered there to read books to the kids. There were two men staring at me from up the street, so I took a different path. I was about to come out of an alley, then everything went dark. Next thing that I knew, I was in captivity," I say. The officer nods and writes down what I said._

" _And how do you explain all the weird events that happened wherever you were spotted?" The man says._

" _We were trying to escape, and we kind of made a mess," I say sheepishly. His eyes widen._

" _A mess? You blew up a greyhound bus, made a huge hole in the St. Louis arch, and released wild animals on the Vegas strip!" He says._

" _Sorry," I shrug._

" _I'm sure that the American public can forgive you three," he says._

" _What about Percy? There were all these stories about how he kidnapped us and his mother and went on the run, but he didn't. He saved us. And the public hates him, but he's completely innocent," I say._

" _We'll see to it that the charges against Mr Jackson are dropped," he says. A nurse walks in._

" _How's Percy doing? Is he alright? How bad is it?" I say._

" _He should be waking up within fifteen minutes. And as for you Annabeth, you are to remain in a wheelchair for the next few days until you build your strength back up. You were severely dehydrated, severely malnourished, and have a hairline fracture on your brow bone," she says._

" _Get me into my wheelchair, I have to see Percy and Grover," I command. The nurse sighs and lifts me into the chair. I wheel down the hall to Grover's room. "Hey Goat boy," I croak. My IV drips into my body from where it hangs atop the chair._

" _Hey Annabeth. What's with the wheelchair?" he says._

" _According to doctors, I'm too weak to walk for the next few days. How're the legs?" I say._

" _While they were doing the x rays, they found something where it wasn't supposed to be. Apparently I have this autoimmune disorder called chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, or CIDP. Basically my body attacks the nerves in my arms and legs and weakens them. So right now, they're giving me some meds, and I'm going to be on those for awhile. Apparently the reason I was so weak and unable to walk very well recently was because I had a bad flare up in my legs," he says. I wince._

" _That sucks dude," I say apologetically._

" _Where's Percy? Is he okay?" He says nervously._

" _He should be waking up soon. Want to come visit him?" I say. He slowly gets out of bed and hobbles along, holding onto his IV pole for dear life. We shuffle down the hall to Percy's room. The cacophony of beeps is the only sound in the room. Percy's eyes slowly flutter open._

" _Hey princess," he slurs._

" _How you feeling?" I say. Grover takes a seat in the chair by the bed._

" _Like I'm flying," Percy slurs. His eyes are glazed over, and I know that he's slowly coming to under the influence of whatever medicine is flowing into his arm._

" _I'm glad you're okay," I say._

" _You saved us. Thank you," Grover says._

" _You're my friends. The two best friends I've ever had," he slurs, turning his head away from us. I notice the sling his arm is encased in._

" _What's on TV?" Grover says, flipping through the hospital channels. We sit in silence, mesmerized by the news._

" _Three children missing from New York City were found safe and sound in Los Angeles, California after a harrowing cross country kidnapping. Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and Grover Underwood were seen battling their captor, who was subdued by young Percy Jackson. Jackson, as you will recall, was theorized to be the mastermind behind the whole plot, but Mr Underwood and Miss Chase paint a very different picture of the juvenile delinquent that we've come to know. The real Percy Jackson risked his life to save his companions, and his efforts did not go unnoticed by the public. The trio of children are currently recovering from their injuries, and a fund has been started to donate money to return them home. Coming to you live from Santa Monica Beach, here's Janie Lewis live at the scene of the crime," the anchor onscreen says._

" _Robin, Percy Jackson somehow managed to steal a gun from his captor and fight him in a dangerous firefight for his freedom. His quick thinking and bravery saved the lives of his companions. We have the video of the fight. Warning: what you're about to see may be graphic," the woman says. Grover switches off the television._

"It's okay Beth, you're safe. _We're_ safe. Ares can't hurt us anymore," Percy says, rubbing my back. I turn around and sob into his chest.

"I saw you get shot again," I sob.

"Shh, shh. I'm okay. You're okay. We're not in danger," he says, swaying back and forth.

"God, it's been six years! When will we finally be back to normal?" I say.

"I don't think that we can," he says, sitting us down.

"Everyone's staring at me, aren't they?" I sniffle.

"Shh, shh," he murmurs, scooping me up into his lap.

"I thought this year would be different. I thought that I could get through the Fourth of July without having a flashback," I say.

"I know babe, I know," he murmurs into my hair.

"How are you not affected by this?" I say.

"I am. I've been much quieter and more fidgety than normal today," he says.

"Tomorrow's a new day," I say, shifting in his lap.

"What do you say we sneak out of here? Maybe camp out in the forest and try to calm down?" He says.

"I'll grab the pizza, you grab your blanket," I say, getting to my feet. I walk over to the food table and pick up one of the boxes of pizza before slipping away into the dark night. Percy's waiting for me up the path.

"Picnic time?" He says.

"I think I'll call this a 'life sucks but at least we have pizza' picnic," I say, as we stumble up the path. We sit down by the amphitheater and open the box.

"Sweet, olives!" He says, grabbing a slice. I giggle and take my own piece. "D'you think that we're being bad influences on these kids?"

"Of course not. What brought this on?" I say, munching on my slice.

"It's just, I know I'm not the best kid. I've done some bad things to get by in my life," he says.

"Like what?" I say.

"I used to be an errand boy for the gang that ran my block. That's how I made cash for all the things Gabe would destroy. I'd run drugs, carry messages between gangs, and I stopped the day I saw a girl get jumped for crossing through gang turf while accidentally dressed like a member of a rival gang. Her name was Jackie. She died in my arms," he says quietly.

"I'm so sorry, Percy. If it's any help, I don't think you're a bad kid. You're just… a product of your environment. You did whatever it took to survive," I say, curling up against him.

"Every day I wake up and think 'what if I could've helped her? What if I could've stopped it?' That guilt follows me, and it makes me feel like it's all my fault. Like I'm not good enough for anyone or anything. I wasn't good enough to save Jackie, I'm not good enough to save my mom, I'm not good enough for girls like… well, girls like you," he says.

"What happened wasn't your fault," I protest.

"Am I good enough for people though? I try my best, and all I get are bad grades, a bum rap, a bad reputation, and a good smack, " he starts.

"Percy," I interrupt, cupping his face. "You're good enough. I promise, you're good enough for your mother, you're good enough for your family, and you're good enough for me."

"Thanks Beth," he says.

"Percy, did I ever tell you why I came to this camp this summer?" I say, looking away from him.

"Nope," he says.

"My mother," I start.

"Didn't she abandon you?" He interrupts.

"My father told me her name last year. Her name was Athena. Athena Pallas. She's District Attorney of Manhattan. We meet the entire DA's office on one of our trips," I say quietly.

"And what? You want to _meet_ the woman who walked out of your life?" He says.

"I want to know _why_. _Why'd_ she leave, _why_ I wasn't good enough for her, _why_ she never once tried to reach out," I say.

"You're crazy, Annabeth," he says, affectionately nuzzling my hair. I smile, then take a sip of my soda.

"Maybe we're both a little bit crazy," I say, placing my hand on his upper thigh.

"Yeah. I'm crazy about you," he murmurs, so quietly that I assume that I wasn't supposed to hear it. I laugh and stretch upwards to reach his mouth. He gasps as my hand brushes past his thigh, and I grin against his lips. his teeth scrape against my bottom lip, and his fingers tap out a rhythm on my back. I pull away, absentmindedly biting his bottom lip.

"What, why are you staring at me? Do I have something on my face?" I say nervously.

"No, you're perfect," he says. _I am in no way perfect. My eyes are far apart, my skin is too tan for my looks, my hair is too frizzy, and my eyes are such a weird color. Who even has gray eyes? They make me look so scary. Also, they're so plain and boring. People say they're silver, or the color of stainless steel, but I think they're just gray. Boring, flat gray._ "Hey, your family's coming to visit, right?"

"Yeah, why?" I say, leaning into him.

"I just want to know about your parents," he says.

"Okay, so my dad's name is Frederick Chase. He's a history professor.

Writes a lot of books. If you want to impress him, ask him about historical stuff, like wars and things. You've heard me talk about Helen, but she's a banker. Then there's Bobby and Matthew. They're eleven. They're kind of stereotypical young boys, the kind that think they're hot shit because they own hot wheels and Axe body spray. They _love_ skateboarding and football. My dad's kind of _overprotective_. Doesn't trust punks, or anyone really,

around his kids," I say.

"Great," he groans.

"To be honest, you'd probably scare him to death. You tower over him, you scowl a lot, and you wear merch from a bunch of bands he's never heard of," I say.

"Aww man! Your dad seems intimidating," he whines.

"You'll be fine. And if he doesn't like you, I don't really care. You're in my life because I want you to be, regardless of what he, or Helen, or _anyone_ else says. You're my…" I say, awkwardly trailing off at the end. _What is Percy to me? He's more than a friend, for sure, but I'm terrified to call him my boyfriend, because that seems so… final, almost as if he owns me. As if from that moment onwards, I cease to be Annabeth Chase. From then on, I have am simply Annabeth, Percy Jackson's girl. I'd lose the girl that I worked so hard to rebuild._

"Thanks Beth," he says. I sigh.

"Tell me about your friends," I say.

"Well, there's Ace. Ace is the lead singer of our band. He's loud, and extremely chill. He got held back in elementary school, so he's turning nineteen in a few months. He used to be a smoker, but he's trying to quit now. His girlfriend,CJ, is our songwriter. She's sarcastic and loyal. She's a lot like Thalia sometimes. Then there's Alexander, or Xander for short. He plays drums. He's a bit neurotic, but the jokester out of the six or us. Finally, there's Tommy, our bassist. He's quiet, but fiercely protective of everyone," he says.

"And then there's _Rachel_ ," I say, barely able to keep the distaste out of my voice.

"What's so bad about Rachel?" He says.

"Oh, nothing," I say.

"You sure?" He says.

"I'm positive," I say, leaning into him. He sighs and pulls me into his chest. I get a whiff of chocolate chip cookies, the ocean, and cologne. My nose wrinkles, and he laughs, kissing the tip of my nose. I hear some rock song playing on the beach. Percy smirks, his usual roguish expression on his face. I kiss his jawline again and again, before moving to his lips. He moans as my hand slowly moves up his chest. He pulls away, his hair wild and his lips slightly swollen.

"You know, my mom is going to _love_ you. She's always wanted a daughter," he says. A familiar feeling deep within my stomach begins, like the fluttering of butterflies. I frown as my phone buzzes again.

 _New message from: Luke_

"I have to go," I choke out, before running off into the forest.

 _Luke: I'm sorry I insulted your new friend, but I'm ready to take you back now. I'm so sick of fighting you. Please, talk to me._

 _You: Ready to take me back? READY TO TAKE ME BACK? ARE YOU SERIOUS? YOU FUCKIN RAPED ME!_

 _Luke: don't be ridiculous Annie. I would never do something like that to you_

 _You: could've fooled me_

 _Luke: I've missed that sarcasm of yours_

 _You: piss off you preppy asshole_

 _Luke: stop fighting me Sweetheart_

 _You: don't you EVER call me sweetheart again, you hear me?_

I huff and put my phone away, leaning onto Zeus's Fist. I think back to the day I decided to leave Appleton.

 _I walk down the hall with my head down, pretending to ignore the whispers and stares. I quietly unlock my locker, wincing at the residue from the tape that used to hold up pictures of Luke and I. A tall shadow appears over me. I sigh and look up. A boy wearing an Appleton high school basketball sweatshirt stands over me._

" _Hey, Annabeth, right?" He says._

" _What's up?" I say with a smile, grateful that someone is talking to me instead of insulting me or propositioning me for whatever they want._

" _Can you meet me by the janitor's closet after everyone leaves for the day?" He smirks._

" _No! I can't believe I thought you were going to be different! I can't believe that I thought that someone here would finally see me as something other than some girl to hook up with! You know what? Fuck this! I'm out of here!" I say, shoving the last of my stuff into my backpack._

" _Oh look, the whore's running away," Jenny Parker, the school's head cheerleader, says. I whirl around and clock her straight in the nose._

" _Bye everyone! Burn in hell!" I say, flipping everyone off before slamming the door behind me. I stomp home, and throw open the door._

" _Hey honey! How was school?" My dad says, sitting at the kitchen table grading his classes final papers._

" _Dad? I have something to tell you," I start. He continues to grade. "A few months ago, I was attacked. Luke… he assaulted me. Then when I tried to break up with him, he beat me. When I finally did leave him, he spread all these awful rumors about me. He said I had cheated on him with 12 different guys. Now everyone at school hates me. I can't do this anymore. I can't keep going in there," I finish, sobbing._

" _What kind of assault?" Dad says, looking up in alarm._

" _He ra-raped me," I sob, crossing my arms across my stomach._

" _What? Okay we can fix this. We go to the police-" he starts._

" _I tried! They said I was asking for it by wearing such short shorts," I sob. My father curses._

" _It's okay sweetie. You don't have to go back there anymore," he says. I nod gratefully and stumble to my bedroom, lying down with my familiar stuffed bear to my chest._

I come back to reality to the sound of loud chatter and waves crashing along the shore. I shudder and sit down, staring off at the small creek that winds through the forest. I can't help but think of Percy's eyes, in all their beauty. They look like the sea itself swirls deep within him, tossing and turning as he moves through his life. Every other counselor except me has cool looking eyes. Piper's eyes change colors, from blue to green to brown and back again. It's a weird look, but it suits her quite well. Then there's Thalia and Jason. Their electric blue eyes crackle with lightning. Katie's eyes are the color of the leaves on the trees in springtime. Frank's eyes are a sharp, dangerous dark brown. Clarisse's are the color of dirt after a fight, brown with a reddish tint. Will's are the color of the sky on a sunny day, bright and happy. Leo's are the color of orangish leather, and they twinkle and sparkle with mischief. Travis and Connor's eyes are an icy blue, glinting whenever they get another idea for a prank. Hazel's eyes are a gorgeous gold, the kind that twinkles when the sun hits it. Nico's eyes are churning pits of darkness, creepy yet beautiful. Juno's eyes are roughly the color of a peacock feather, pretty yet harsh. Then there's me. Boring, plain, little me. I shuffle onto the beach in silence.

"Annabeth! Oh there you are! Are you okay?" Piper says, as she, Thalia, Rachel, and Hazel jog over to me.

"I'll be fine. I'm sorry I worried you," I say quietly.

"I'm so sorry that happened," Thalia says.

"It's okay. It's not really anyone's fault," I say.

"What got you and Percy so spooked?" Hazel says.

"A few years ago, Percy got shot. I was there. Then the guy who shot him accidentally punctured a fuel tank on a parked car nearby, and blew it up. Since then, I haven't really handled sudden loud explosions too well," I say quietly. A pair of flannel clad arms wrap around my midsection.

"You feeling any better?" Percy says.

"Kind of. You?" I say, shifting my weight.

"Eh," he says.

"Hey Perce," Thalia says.

"What's up Thals?" He says.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" She says.

"Sure. Be right back Beth," he says, before following Thalia down the beach.

"So Annabeth, what do you think of Jason?" Hazel says.

"He's cool, I guess. Super polite, extremely overprotective, but he seems nice enough. Percy really cares about him. Why'd you ask?" I say.

"Piper here-" Hazel starts.

"Has a major crush on him? Oh I know," I smirk.

" _Shut up_ ," Piper says, her face reddening. I laugh.

"So Hazel, how's Nico?" I say.

"Oh, he's alright. A bit creepy and quiet sometimes, but he's okay. He's kind of like the older brother that I never had. He really seems to care about his cousins," she remarks.

"Speaking of cousins, my cousin Magnus and his friends agreed to help us tour Boston," I say.

"Really? That's great! So we don't have to spend money on tour guides?" Piper says.

"Yep," I say, glancing behind her. Percy and Thalia seem to be arguing about something, judging by their comically huge movements and matching furious expressions.

"What are you- oh," Hazel says, following my gaze.

"I hope they're okay," I say absentmindedly.

"Aww, you're worried about Percy?" Piper coos, her voice sickly sweet.

"No. Thalia. Percy's got anger issues," I murmur in horror. I can practically see him reaching his breaking point. "Oh god, I'll be right back," I say as Percy's fists clench. I sprint at full speed down the beach, frantically trying to get to the warring family.

"You're not my mom Thalia! Stop trying to be!" Percy roars.

"And you think Aunt Sally's going to be _okay_ when I tell her about this?" Thalia yells.

"Break it up you two!" I shout from twenty feet away.

"Will you stop threatening to tell my mom? She's got enough things to deal with right now! I can handle this!" He says.

"I can't just let you string this poor girl along!" Thalia says. I gasp in surprise and feel my heart ache. _Did he lie to me? Is he really just playing me?_ I turn and run away, back up towards my cabin. I sit down against the wall and sob. _Looks like I'm just a gullible little fool again. Why'd I think this time would be different?_

"Annabeth? Annabeth?" Percy calls, stepping up the path. I bury my face in my hands, and try to quiet myself. "What's wrong?" He says, stepping in front of me.

"Just go away," I sniffle.

"Not until you tell me what's wrong," he says.

"Go away! Take your stupid ring and your stupid fake promises and get out of my life!" I sob, taking his ring off my finger and throwing it at him.

"What brought this on?" He says, staring sadly at the ring in his hand.

"Just leave me _alone_ ," I say, before getting up and slamming my cabin door behind me.

He pounds on the door. "Please will you open the door?" I lean against it and sob.

"I thought you were different. I thought you _cared_ ," I say, sliding down until I am seated on the ground.

"Annabeth, what happened?" He says. I hear the porch creak as he sits down against the door.

"You're just like _him_." I say, wiping black mascara trails from my cheeks.

"What did I do?" He says.

"I'm done fighting it. Maybe I should just be what everybody thinks I am," I sob, staring at the hair straightener poking out of my suitcase.

"Annabeth, _don't_ ," he pleads, his voice cracking.

"Why bother? Everyone thinks I'm just some blonde ditz. I've been fighting for years, and I'm tired. Some girls were meant to fight hard, but maybe I'm not," I sniffle. He pounds on the door again.

"Annabeth, we both know that you're so much more-" he starts, his voice clouded with emotions that I don't quite recognize.

"It's not my decision. Just leave me alone," I sob.

"No. I'm not leaving without saying what I need to say. Annabeth, _please_. If you suddenly changed, it'd be like I lost _my_ Annabeth. I can't do this without you. I want you to _stay_ the girl I know so well. _Please_. I _need_ you to stay," he says, starting to cry.

"It's not up to me anymore," I sob, before getting off the floor. I pull out my laptop and open up my rough draft for a college essay. The party continues down on the beach, but I've shut myself away, just like the old days. The kids slowly file into the cabin and get ready for bed. I wait until they're all asleep to get ready myself, before sitting cross legged on my bunk. I pull out my phone and call my dad.

"Hello?" He says.

"Hey dad. How have you been? How are the twins?" I croak, wiping my eyes with tissues.

"You sound upset. Is everything okay?" He says.

"Today's just been _awful_. But I'll be fine," I say.

"What's so bad about today?" He says.

"Just flashbacks, I got in a fight with my friend, small stuff like that," I say.

"What happened with you and your friend?" He says.

"He lied to me. I thought he'd be different. I thought I'd learned, but no. He's exactly like everyone else. He's just like _him_ ," I say. Dad sighs on the other end.

"Annabeth, things are going to be okay. You're going to get stronger. In a few years, your body will be made entirely out of cells that neither of them have ever touched," he says.

"Dad, you nerd," I laugh.

"I'll let you get some sleep. Goodnight Annabeth," he says, before hanging up. I lie back on my bed and sob into my pillow, eventually passing out in a puddle of my own tears.

 _Percy: Annabeth?_

 _Percy: are u mad at me?_

 _Percy: is it something I did?_

 _Percy: PLEASE JUST TELL ME WHAT I DID WRONG_

 _Percy: talk to me Beth. Please_

 _Percy: are u just going to ignore me for the rest of the summer?_

 _Percy: Wise girl, please, I miss u. Just talk to me_

 _Percy: I guess ur never talking to me again. Can u at least tell me why?_

I sigh as I scroll through the barrage of texts that Percy's sent me over the past few weeks. I let Jason take over for me on the scavenger hunt, and instead led my cabin to victory. Every single time I see Percy, my heart hurts. My family is supposed to arrive soon to finally visit, but until then, I sit on the dock at the canoe lake, dipping my feet into the water. My straightened hair blows around in the wind. Percy sits beside me.

"Look, I know you never want to see me again. I know you hate me. But it hurts not knowing why. Is it something I said to you?" He says. I glance over and notice that his cheeks are slightly sunken in, his hair wild, and the area around his eyes is darkened from a lack of sleep.

"You want to talk about what _hurts_? I _trusted_ you! I thought you were different from Luke! I thought you would never hurt me! But no! You just led me on! You made me think that you actually _cared_!" I say.

"You overheard Thalia," he mutters in horror.

"I can't _believe_ you," I say, glaring down at a knot in the wood.

"Annabeth. She was wrong. I could never lead you on. I really do care about you. And I get it, you don't believe me. I just want you to know the truth," he says.

"Which is _what_ , exactly?" I say.

"I wasn't lying to you. Thalia said that she thought I was playing you because she's never seen me act like this with anyone. She thought I was faking. In her own way, she really does care about you. She didn't want me to break you. But I wasn't faking. My feelings about you are 100 percent genuine," he says.

"Prove it," I deadpan.

"What do you want me to do? I'll do almost anything, except hurt my mom of course," he pleads. I glance over and realize that he's wearing colors other than black. His piercings are gone, replaced instead with flesh colored studs. He looks downright _miserable_.

"What's with the colors?" I say, gesturing to his cargo shorts and bright blue sweatshirt.

"I didn't want to scare your family. Or anyone, really. I just don't want your dad to worry about you hanging around me," he says.

"Percy, this isn't you. You don't have to pretend to be something you're not for my parents," I say.

"So… we're okay?" He says hopefully, getting to his feet. I stand up too.

"Yeah," I say, nodding. He cheers and lifts me up, spinning me around. "Percy! Put me down!" He happily obliges, placing me back on the ground gingerly. He cups my face and presses his lips to mine. My eyes widen in shock before fluttering shut on instinct.

"Oh my god. Sorry! I didn't mean to!" He says, pulling away. His lips are tinted slightly pinkish red with the lipstick that was on my lips. My hand covers my mouth in surprise, and I stare up at him.

"Go get changed," I say, playing with my hair nervously. He nods slowly and disappears up the hill. I let my hands drop, before giggling and twirling around. _Get a grip girl! You gave this boy the potential to absolutely destroy you, and you're laughing like it's all just some game? Wise up, Annabeth!_ I pull out my phone and start playing some random game, until I hear the dock creak behind me. I whirl around. Standing sheepishly behind me is the Percy Jackson I've come to know these past weeks, in his usual dark clothing and scuffed up shoes. The walkie talkie clipped to my hip goes off.

"Annabeth Chase, you have a visitor," Chiron says. I grab Percy's hand and lead him up to the pavilion, laughing as he stumbles behind me. I see four people sitting at a table with no campers. The man has thinning blond hair and thin glasses.

"Dad! Helen!" I say, letting go of Percy's hand and running towards them.

"Annabeth!" Dad says, engulfing me in a hug.

"Who's the giant?" Matthew says, pointing at Percy.

"This is my… um… this is Percy," I say. He steps forward, and I have to bite my lip to stifle my laughter when I notice that he towers over my father.

"Nice to meet you Dr Chase," he says, his hand outstretched. Dad gives him a suspicious look before shaking his hand.

"Dad, you're being ridiculous. Percy's completely harmless," I groan.

"Knew this would happen," Percy mutters.

"So anyways, Percy, this is my family. Meet Helen, Matthew, and Bobby," I say.

"Which is Matthew and which is Bobby?" He says.

"Bobby's in blue. Matthew's wearing green," I say.

"Ah," he says.

"So, Percy, where do you go to school?" Dad says. Percy and I wince in unison.

""I go to Goode High School," he says. A woman with curly brown hair walks into the pavilion, her long skirt sweeping behind her. Thalia and Jason run towards her, arms outstretched, while Nico slinks up behind them, a small grin on his face.

"Aunt Sally!" Thalia cheers, reaching the woman, now dubbed Sally.

"Hello Thalia! I brought the four of you cookies! Have you seen Percy?" Sally says. I elbow Percy in the gut, stopping him abruptly.

"What?" He says.

"That woman over there is looking for you," I say, pointing towards Sally. Percy perks up and grabs my hand, sprinting towards her. "Percy! Slow down!"

"Mom!" He yells, crashing into the woman. I stumble backwards.

"Percy! How are you?" She says. I stand back awkwardly watching the reunion between Percy and his mother.

"How sweet," I say.

"Anyways, so Mom, meet Annabeth Chase, the girl I told you about. Beth, this is my mom," he says.

"Nice to finally meet you," I say, stepping forward and shaking her hand.

"I believe we've spoken on the phone before," she says.

"We have," I say.

"And how is Percy?" She says.

"Oh, you know. He's fine," I say, before getting interrupted by a loud clatter. I whirl around to find one of the kids from the Hermes cabin breaking a plate. I think his name is Cecil Markowitz.

"Ugh, I'll go handle it. Hang out with your family guys," I say, before jogging over to Cecil. "Cecil, honey, why would you break that plate?" I say, crouching in front of him. He just shrugs. I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose. "You know that Travis and Connor are going to have to punish you for this, right?" I say, noticing that he's looking past me towards the influx of families coming in.

"Mom! Hermes! Luke!" He calls gleefully. I tense up and slowly turn around. Walking proudly toward us, dressed like a stereotypical rich frat boy, is my douche of an ex. I freeze, glancing around nervously. Percy catches my eye, and he signals something with his hand, our old signal for ' _are you okay?'_. I shake my head, and he murmurs an excuse to his family before walking over to us. His heavy boots make loud thumping noises on the hard ground.

"What's up?" He says, stopping in front of me. I grab his arms and turn him around. "The preppy frat dude? What about him has you so spooked?" He says.

" _Luke_ ," I say gravely. His eyes widen.

" _He's_ -" he starts.

"Yep," I interrupt.

"What kind of stereotypical preppy- 'you know I had to do it to em' ass- dude is this?" He murmurs in my ear. I snort.

"Annie?" Luke says, stretching out his arms for a hug. I shake my head silently. "It's been so long! I've missed you!" Percy awkwardly shifts his weight side to side and then decisively throws an arm around my waist.

" _No_.you do _not_ get to treat me like an old friend. You ran me out of school!" I say, as Percy glares at him.

"And this must be Percy. Pleasure to meet you," Luke says with an amicable smile.

"Wish I could say the same," he growls, muscles tensed like a tiger ready to pounce. The two boys have a silent stand off, and I glance between them. Luke is barely my father's height at 5 foot 7, and his attempt at a dangerous look pales in comparison to the pure fury radiating off of Percy. I see him gulp as Percy's tattoo becomes visible to him.

"Sweetheart, that's enough. You're going to burn a hole through his skull," I say, looking up at him and patting his chest right on top of the logo on his vintage Led Zeppelin shirt.

"Sorry babe," he says, looking down at me. His glare softens.

"Come on you big dork, I heard your mom brought cookies," I laugh. He grins.

"Beth, you have not _lived_ until you've tried my Mom's signature blue chocolate chip cookies," he says, practically salivating.

"PJ, you're drooling," I deadpan.

"You'll understand why once you've had one," he says.

"Well let's go then! I'm _dying_ to know what's got you so excited," I chirp, as he leads me over to his mom.

"Sup Perce," Thalia says, her mouth full of cookies.

"Thals, _we don't talk with our mouths full_ ," I say.

"Sorry Annabeth," she says.

"And here you are. One blue cookie," Percy says, giving me a cookie the size of my fist.

"Why are they blue?" I ask. _How did she even make them this color?_

"Gabe once told her there was no such thing as blue food, and we're both stubborn and petty. Now everything we eat is blue," he says.

"Nice," I say, before taking a bite of the cookie. I can't stop the moan that comes out of my mouth.

"That good, huh?" Percy smirks.

"If you don't shut up I'll run you up the flagpole by your Finding Nemo boxers," I say, blushing.

"Can you actually though? I would pay good money to see that," Nico says.

"Shut up Nico, otherwise I'll tell your stepmom what _really_ happened to her garden," Percy says. Nico pales.

" _You wouldn't_ ," he says.

"Try me, Neeks," he says.

"Guys, stop fighting," Jason pleads.

"I have to go. See you later. It was nice meeting you Mrs Jackson!" I say, wiggling my way out of Percy's grasp and sashaying towards my family. "Sorry about that," I say, sitting down across from my family.

"So, Annabeth. How've you been?" Helen says.

"Good, I guess . this summer's been fun so far," I say.

"Also, here. Happy late birthday Annabeth," Dad says, passing me a wrapped box.

"really? thank you so much!" I say, before tearing the package open. "Oh my god, you didn't! Thank you thank you thank you!" I say, pulling out the group of three plane tickets to Orlando and to all the theme parks down there.

"Your flight is scheduled for the week before school starts," dad grins.

"You mean… you're not coming with me?" I say.

"No sweetie. You're eighteen now. You don't need us with you everywhere you go," Dad says.

"Any rules?" I say.

"Be safe, have fun, no messing around with boys," dad says.

"Dad, do you really think that _I_ of all people would do that?" I say.

"I mean, we left you alone for one summer, and you've already gotten real up close and personal with that punk kid," dad says.

"Who, Percy? He's harmless!"

I protest.

"He seems sketchy," Helen says.

"He _saved my life as a kid_ ," I say.

"What?" Dad says.

"Remember when I went missing with two other kids when I was twelve? Their names were Percy and Grover. Grover's probably sorting incident reports in the big house right now, and you just met Percy. Does the name 'Percy Jackson' ring a bell to you?" I say.

" _That's_ Percy Jackson?" Helen says.

"Yeah. He's changed since we were kids. But he's still the same guy I knew back then," I say, glancing over at him as he jokingly ruffles Nico's hair.

"Hi Dr and Mrs Chase!" Luke says from behind me. I freeze for a second before pulling out my phone.

 _You: omg help he's right behind me_

 _Percy: I'm right here. If he tries anything I'll kill him. You're safe with me princess, I promise_

 _You: a promise is a dangerous thing to make_

 _Percy: I'm going to keep that promise_

 _You: how can you be sure?_

 _Percy: because you're my best girl friend/ occasional make out buddy and I care about you. I'm gonna do everything in my power to keep Luke from hurting you, okay?_

 _You: "make out buddy"? Seriously Perce?_

 _Percy: I'm sorry we haven't officially defined our relationship, so right now we're basically FWB_

I roll my eyes and put my phone down, before turning and glaring at Luke.

"Can I _help_ you?" I say.

"I just wanted to talk," he says.

" _Talk_? You lost the right to talk to me when you repeatedly abused me and ran me out of Appleton!" I scoff.

"Please Annie. I've grown since then. I'm in college now," he pleads.

"Go hit on a girl your own age, Castellan. I'm done," I say.

"Come on, Annie," he says, grabbing my arm. I wrench it away and turn to my parents with a panicked look.

"Castellan, get away from my daughter," Dad seethes.

"Why? I'm not doing anything!" He says.

"You assaulted me! Now back off, or you're in some serious trouble," I say.

"What? Are _you_ gonna beat me up?" He says mockingly.

"No. _Percy_ will," I say. He turns around to see Percy glaring at him, cracking his knuckles menacingly. He gulps, wiping his sweaty palms on his white shorts.

" _Leave_ ," Percy growls.

"We'll talk later," Luke says, before backing away. I get up and run towards Percy. His long arms snake around my waist in that familiar way.

"Thank you so much Seaweed Brain," I say quietly, my face buried in his chest.

"Don't mention it Wise Girl," he smirks, looking down at me. I grin as he kisses my forehead, before walking away. I sit back down with a blush upon my face.

"What was that all about?" Helen says, staring curiously at me.

"What was _what_ all about?" I say, biting my lip.

"Percy just _kissed_ you," she says.

"Oh, that. That's totally normal. We do that all the time. It's our way of saying bye. He kisses my forehead, I kiss his cheek. It's totally fine," I say.

"Annie's got a boyfriend! Annie's got a boyfriend!" Matthew chants loudly. My face heats up as Bobby gets up and dances around the table.

"Shut up you pest!" I say, burying my face in my hands.

"Boys, leave your sister alone," Helen says.

"Thanks Helen," I murmur. Dad looks

deeply disturbed.

"Freddy, what's wrong?" Helen says.

"It just hit me that my baby girl is an adult now. She doesn't need me anymore. She can make her own decisions," he says.

"I've been making my own decisions since I was six Dad," I snark.

"Annabeth-" he warns.

"I'm sorry. My friends must be rubbing off on me," I say quietly.

"Annie, are you going to live with us again?" Bobby says.

"Aww, I'm sorry guys, but I can't. My school is here. My friends are here. I can't just pack up and leave during senior year," I say.

"I'm sure Annabeth will visit," Dad says.

"Maybe," I shrug.

"Or we could come here," he says.

"Yeah, I can show you my school," I say excitedly.

"Ah, Frederick, she really is _your_ daughter," Helen says. I laugh nervously. Thalia jogs over.

"Hey Chase, the guys and I need a fourth for our 2v2 game. Wanna play?" She says

"Teams?" I say.

"Jase and I and you and Perce," she says.

"I'm down. Wanna watch guys?" I say to my family. The twins nod. "Alright Dad, so I'll watch the twins for you. Maybe you can meet Mrs Jackson."

"Have fun sweetie!" Helen says.

"Come on boys, let's go play some basketball," I say, grabbing the twins hands. Thalia leads us to the basketball court. Percy stands with Jason, laughing.

"Hey Beth," Percy says, as I let the twins sit away from the court.

"So, shirts vs skins?" Jason says.

"Why do I feel like we'll end up being the skins?" I murmur.

"You're literally wearing a skirt. I am _not_ prepared for you to strip at any time today," Percy mutters.

"I'm not an idiot Percy. I'm wearing shorts under the skirt," I say, peeling off my skirt to show him. He flushes bright red and looks away, gulping. I laugh and shove his shoulder.

"Who's on shirts and who's on skins?" He stammers.

"Rock paper scissors on it?" Jason says.

"Fine," Percy says. I glance over to my brothers.

"Alright! So Thals and I are Shirts!" Jason says.

"Fine," I groan, peeling off my plain white shirt, exposing my sports bra. Percy turns around with his shirt in his hand and freezes. His face reddens even more. "Uh, Perce?" I say.

"I'm sorry, what?" He says, shaking his head. He takes his spot next to me.

"First to 31 wins," Thalia says. Then the game starts. Percy grabs the ball with his long arms and dribbles cross court before shooting a three pointer. Thalia catches the rebound and dribbles almost all the way there until I snatch the ball. Jason snatches the ball from me and shoots. I huff, crossing my arms over my chest and blowing my bangs out of my eyes. The game continues until I shoot the last shot our team needs to win. The ball rolls around the hoop once, then twice, before going in. Percy whoops and bumps me with his hip.

"Good game guys," Jason says, taking off his glasses to wipe the sweat off his face.

"Yeah, this was fun," Thalia pants. Percy pulls his shirt back on before tossing me my clothes.

"Thanks honey," I huff, tugging on my shirt and stepping into my skirt.

"Anyone want water? I think that we're getting food soon, and then we're going to show the parents what exactly we've been doing so far this summer," Percy says.

"Yeah, let's do it. Matthew, Bobby! Come on we've got to get you back to Dad and Helen," I say. I pull the twins up and lead them back over to our family. Helen and Mrs Jackson are talking excitedly while Dad stands awkwardly off to one side.

"Hey mom," Percy says, kissing her cheek.

"Momma's boy," I fake cough.

"Oh, quiet Beth," he says, jokingly shoving my shoulder. He stands to my right and drapes an arm over my shoulder. "You know how you wanted to hear me play sometime?" He starts.

"Yeah…" I say nervously.

"Chiron gave me permission to play guitar for campfire tonight," he grins.

"Seaweed Brain that's incredible!" I say. The tickets in my skirt pocket rustle.

"What was that rustling noise?" He says. I sheepishly pull out the set of tickets. "Where'd you get those?"

"It was an eighteenth birthday gift from my parents," I say sheepishly.

"What? It was your birthday and you didn't _tell_ me?" He yelps.

"We were still fighting!" I protest.

"Still, it's my duty as your _totally awesome_ punk rock best friend-" he starts.

" _More like totally dorky_ ," I grumble under my breath.

"-the best eighteenth birthday ever," he finishes with a grin. I laugh.

"You know how you have bad luck with field trips? Well, that's me with birthdays," I say.

"I'm sure it's not that bad," he starts.

"I spent my seventh birthday trapped in a closet full of spiders," I deadpan.

"Geez. Well, I'm going to help you break your terrible birthday streak," he says.

"If you can manage to do that, I'll meet all of your friends," I snicker.

"Alright, so it's settled. I've got to go plan. I'll see you tonight, _birthday girl_ ," he smirks. I groan.

"Why'd I open my big mouth?" I grumble, sitting back down with my family. I make idle small talk, before Mr D walks up and drones on and on about how this camp 'helps children realize their full potential by allowing them the freedom to choose what they'd like to do'. I catch Thalia's eye, and she makes a gagging motion as Mr D continues to talk. Nico's passed out on Will's shoulder, snoring softly. Even Leo, as energetic as he is, is unable to mask his boredom and exhaustion. Finally, after what feels like _hours_ , he stops talking. Travis and Connor have interrupted him by rolling a stink bomb behind him. The air fills with acrid smoke, smelling of rotten eggs.

"Stolls!" Katie screeches, holding her nose.

"What Katie Kat?" Travis says, swinging his arm over her shoulder.

"Why? Why today, of all days? Why now?" She says as everyone starts filing out of the pavilion. I lead my family out and over to the grassy hill behind the pavilion. Malcolm wanders over.

"Hey Mal. You look upset. What's wrong?" I say.

"I can't find my mom," he says.

"I'll help you look." I say, grasping his hand. "What does she look like?"

"She has curly brown hair and gray eyes," he says. I look through the crowds.

"Is that her?" I say, pointing to a woman that is standing maybe thirty feet away, looking around panickedly.

"Mom!" He calls. She looks up, and her shoulders sag with relief. The lady clambers up the hill to us.

"Thank you so much for helping little Malcolm, miss-" his mom says. She looks strangely familiar.

"Chase. Annabeth Chase," I say, shaking her hand. I notice her flinch at my name, but I'm not quite sure why. "Your son is a wonderful boy Mrs Pace," I say,

"Please, call me Athena," she says. My dad gasps from behind us.

" _Athena_?" He yelps.

" _Frederick_?" She says in surprise.

"Dad? Do you know her?" I say.

"Annabeth, meet Athena Pallas," he says.

" _Mom_?" I yelp, stumbling back.

"Why, Frederick, she's absolutely _beautiful_ ," she says.

"I don't-" I stammer. " _Why_?" I start.

"Why what?" She says.

"Why'd you leave? Wasn't I enough? Weren't _we_ enough? You never even _tried_ to get to know me! Why?" I say.

"Annabeth-" she starts.

"No! I've wanted to say this for nearly ten years, so you're going to let me finish, _mom_. Do you have _any_ idea of what I've been through since you left? Do you know how many nights I cried myself to sleep thinking about how my own mother didn't want me? Do you know how much it hurts?" I say.

"Annabeth, I'd like to get to know you. How about we go talk on the beach?" She says kindly.

"Fine," I grumble. I stomp down to the beach after her, and we stop in a deserted spot. "So in case you wanted to know who I am, hi. I'm Annabeth Marie Chase. I'm eighteen. I turned eighteen ten days ago. And I've had one of the hardest lives of anyone I know. Neither parent wanted me, and my stepmom hated me. I've been kidnapped, assaulted, bullied, and I've run away. But I want to be an architect. Nothing in my life has ever been permanent, so I want to build something permanent for others. A monument to last a thousand years. I go to East River Academy. I always wanted to meet my mother. Percy thought I was crazy for wanting it as bad as I did. Maybe he's right. Why should I care so much about a woman who decided that her one year old baby wasn't worth her time?" I say.

"Now, Annabeth. I wanted to stay. Really, I did. But things just… weren't working between your father and I, and I decided to move out. I never meant to lose contact with you. I can't begin to imagine the pain I've caused you over the past 17 years," she says.

"It's okay, mom. It's just, you missed _so much_ of my life. You missed my first boyfriend. My first time driving. My first day of school. My first day of high school. Every single birthday. All of it. You were gone," I say.

"Oh Annabeth, I'm so sorry," she says.

" _Don't_. Don't just apologize. Show me you're actually sorry. Show me that you care," I say.

"I want to know about your friends. I want to know about your life. I want to know _you_ ,"she says.

"My…well, he's not officially my boyfriend yet. We've talked about it, and neither of us are 100 percent ready to commit yet. Anyways, his name is Percy Jackson. He's one of the few guys I trust unconditionally. He's my oldest remaining friend. Then there's his cousins, Thalia and Jason Grace and Nico Di Angelo. They're all sort of like him- well, except for Jason- dark, sarcastic, and serious. My friend Leo Valdez is a mad scientist type, goofy and sarcastic, but extremely smart. My friend Frank is kind of shy and awkward, but extremely tall and tough when need be. I have two other really good friends here. Their names are Piper McLean and Hazel Levesque. Piper is really bold and open about how she feels and what she wants. Hazel is much more shy and reserved. And that's really it. I mean, I'm friends with almost every other counselor here, but those are the ones I'm closest to," I say.

"What about school friends?" My mom says.

"I haven't really had any school friends since sophomore year. My ex boyfriend turned the whole school against me. And I'm too scared of a repeat of that to make friends at my new school," I frown. My phone rings. _Call from: Percy._ I sigh and press accept. "What's up Perce?" I say.

"Babe, this is a bit of a weird question, but what's your favorite cake flavor?" He says. I can hear the chatter of the people behind him.

"Honey, you don't _have_ to do this. I'm fine with just celebrating my birthday surrounded by friends," I say.

"Beth, sweetheart, I _want_ to," he says.

"Chocolate. My favorite cake flavor is chocolate," I say.

"Good choice. I'll talk later. Bye Wise Girl," he says.

"Later Seaweed Brain," I laugh, before hanging up. I shake my head. "What a dork," I mumble.

"So how much did your father tell you about me?" She says.

"Your name and how you looked. He said you were a genius. He said I looked more and more like you every day," I say, staring at the familiar woman. Her eyes are a darker gray, the color of gunmetal, and her jaw is much more pointed. Her dark hair is pulled back into a harsh bun, and her nose is a bit more downturned than mine, but it still feels like I'm looking in a mirror.

"Malcolm always wanted a sister," she says.

"Malcolm was easily one of my favorite campers. I see a lot of myself in him. Now I know why," I shrug. Mom cracks a grin.

"So tell me about this Percy guy," she says with a sort of conspiratorial glitter in her eyes.

"Umm, alright. So we met the summer I got kidnapped. He was taken shortly after me and the other boy, and we _hated_ each other at first, but we learned to get along to survive. He became one of my best and most trusted friends during those terrifying few weeks. He saved my life, and then we lost touch shortly afterwards. Then we realized that all three of us worked at this camp this summer, and we picked up our friendship right where we left off. A few weeks later, he admitted he liked me, and now here we are. Nobody else at camp really _knows_ per se, because if they did there'd be all these rules to follow and all this paperwork to fill out," I say, with a wistful smile on my face. We talk amicably about various things until a hand covers my eyes.

"Guess who," the voice whispers in my ear. The hands are rough and calloused.

"Hmm, lemme think… is it… _Percy_?" I joke. He lifts his hands off my eyes, and I turn slightly to face him. He pulls one hand out from behind his back, clutching a bouquet of flowers. "Are those for _me_?"

"Yep. Had to bribe Katie for them, but they're for you," he says. I clutch the bouquet in my hand and squeal, launching myself at him so that my arms go around his neck. He laughs and pecks my lips in a chaste kiss.

"This is the nicest thing anyone's done for me," I sniffle.

"Who were you talking to?" He says.

"Oh right, Percy, meet my mom. Mom, meet Percy," I say. His eyes widen.

"Nice to meet you Ma'am," he says, his hand outstretched. Mom shakes his hand, and he smiles, before turning to me. "I thought she abandoned you! What is she doing here?" He hisses through his teeth.

"She's Malcolm Pace's mom too. So Malcolm is my younger half brother," I say.

"So you've got three little brothers: Matthew, Bobby, and Malcolm. Malcolm is a year older than the twins and Bobby is twelve minutes older than Matthew. Did I get it right?" He says.

"Spot on!" I grin.

"So, um Percy… how long have you been friends with my daughter?" Mom says.

"We met when we were twelve, lost touch for a few years, then found each other again this summer," he says. His hair glints in the light. I lace my fingers through his absentmindedly. His face lights up, and mom laughs.

"Ah, young love," she murmurs, as Percy presses his lips against my temple. He pulls away and swings our arms back and forth. I bring the bouquet up to my nose and smell it.

"Thanks again honey," I grin. He kicks a pebble with his boot.

"I'm sure your father is wondering where you are," he says.

"Oh, yeah! We have to go!" I say to mom. I lead the two of them up the hill and back to my family. We stop a few feet from them.

"Hey, Beth, I have to go. My mom is probably wondering where I am. I'll text you later, yeah?" He says, before kissing my cheek.

"See you tonight," I say.

"Nice meeting you Ms Pallas!" He says, waving. He bounds up the hill and out of sight.

"Where did you get the flowers?" Helen says.

"Percy gave them to me. He's so _sweet_ ," I say.

"That kid gave you _a bouquet?_ Anyone remember what flowers mean?" Dad says.

"Percy seems like a wonderful young man Frederick," mom says. I examine the flowers closer.

"There are daisies and three different colors of roses," I say. Helen pulls out her phone.

"What color are the roses?" She says, typing something.

"Peach, yellow, and lavender," I say. Helen gasps.

"Yellow means friendship, peach means desire or let's get together, and lavender means love at first sight," she gasps. My face burns, and I'm sure that I am quickly approaching the color of a ripe tomato.

"I'm sure he didn't know. Percy doesn't seem like the type to know flower meanings. He probably just picked them because he knew that you'd like them," Dad says. I think back to the time that Percy told me that his mom worked at a flower shop for a few years so he knows way more about flowers than the average person. _Oh, he so knew. He so knew that he was basically asking me to be his girlfriend through flowers._ I smile softly down at the gift, my skirt and hair fluttering in the breeze.

"It's still super cute of him. He's a good guy," I say.

"Annie has a boyfriend! Annie has a boyfriend!" The twins chant, cackling as they run around us like the little balls of energy that they are. Malcolm looks at me in alarm.

"I do not!" I yelp. _But maybe I will after tonight._ The twins skid to a stop as Luke and his family walk by. They stop near us, and I shudder, clutching my flowers to my chest. In spite of everything, I smile, not like the fake smiles I've been giving for so long, a _real_ smile, the kind that makes my eyes crinkle and my face light up.

"Hey, Annabeth, can I talk to you?" Luke says behind me. I flinch, and turn slowly.

"What do you want, Castellan?" I say angrily. _Deep breaths Annabeth. Think of how Percy or your friends would react if you got fired for fighting a camper's family member._

"I just wanted to talk without your little bodyguard around," he says.

"You mean Percy? He's not my bodyguard you insufferable-" I start. Malcolm grabs my hand. I pinch the bridge of my nose before continuing. "Percy is ten times the man you pretend to be. He's my friend. I can trust him. If only I could say the same for you." I say.

"Annabeth, be nice!" Mom gasps in horror.

"Mom, this guy is awful!" I protest. Dad nods.

"This boy assaulted Annabeth. She is under no obligation to be cordial," he says.

"Come on Annie, I've changed," Luke pleads.

"So have I Luke. I'm not the same girl I was when we were together. I'm not trusting you ever again. Now get away from me and stay out of my life," I sigh. He glances down at the flowers in my hand then back up at my face.

"Did _he_ get you those flowers?" He sneers.

"So what if he did? I don't see how my relationships are any of your business! Besides, it was… sweet. It shows that he cares. I don't remember _you_ ever doing anything nice for me back then." I say defensively. He opens his mouth then shuts it. I turn back to Malcolm. "Sorry squirt." I say, ruffling his hair. He groans.

"You're going to be like this all summer aren't you, egghead?" He murmurs.

"Oh, _I'm_ the egghead? What about you, Mister 'I brought a pre-algebra textbook with me to camp for fun'?" I say. I realize that he has Mom's gunmetal gray eyes, her slightly downturned nose, and her wild curls. His are cropped much shorter than mine, and his curls are tighter, the way mine were when I was young. He looks much more like me than Matthew and Bobby do. I check my phone. "Visitation ends in three minutes. We've got to take you back!" I yelp. Malcolm jumps ahead of us and I lead my family up the hill and back towards the other parents and children. Mom places her hand on my shoulder.

"Don't be afraid to call if you need anything, Annabeth. I'll see you soon," she says.

"Bye Mom. I'll take care of Malcolm for you," I say.

"And tell that Percy boy that I said that he'd better be good to you," she says.

"Mom!" I yelp, my face heating up. Malcolm looks at me in alarm.

"The leader of the _Poseidon_ cabin? Our sworn rivals?" He says.

"He's an old friend, Mal," I protest.

"I'll see you at the end of the summer, Annabeth," dad says as the twins hug me. Helen just waves goodbye. Then they all walk up the hill and over the property line.

"Come on, kid. I'll get you something from the camp store," I say. Malcolm follows me to the snack shack.

"Hey Annie, what's it going to be for today?" Travis says.

"I'm cashing in a favor. Give me two chipwiches," I say.

"Here ya go. See you tonight!" Connor says. I pass one to Malcolm, who unwraps it gratefully. We walk along the path, eating in silence.

"I'm gonna go play with my friends. See you tonight!" He says, before taking off. I sigh and go to my cabin. I pull out a cup and fill it with water before placing the flowers inside. The door behind me opens.

"Hey Beth, you up for something?" Percy says. He's holding a basket for some reason.

"Hmm?" I say.

"Come with me," he says. I take his hand and he leads me into the forest. We spread out atop Zeus's Fist, and he turns to me.

"You knew what the flowers you sent me meant, right?" I say.

"Maybe…" he says, opening the basket. He pulls out a chocolate cupcake. "Happy birthday babe."

"Percy…" I say.

"Look, I know you fear commitment. I know that you worry that I'll be like Luke. I know you're scared. But I'm scared too. I'm scared of the future. I'm scared that I'll be as bad of a man as Gabe. That you'll wake up one day and realize that you don't want me anymore. Annabeth, you are the _best_ thing to come out of this summer. You're my world, and I don't want to lose you. You don't have to say yes if you don't want to. I don't want to pressure you into anything. I just wanted you to know how I feel," he says, nervously wringing his hands.

"But your reputation! How would your friends react?" I say.

"I don't care about what people at my school think of me. To everyone else, I'm Percy Jackson, the punk juvenile delinquent. But with you, I can just be _Percy_ ," he says.

"Your bandmates? Ace already is ragging on you for hanging with me," I say.

"I don't care what _Ace Holbrook_ thinks of us. And they'll learn to love you. They'll probably joke about how you're way out of my league," he says.

"I am?" I say confusedly.

"Annabeth, you're so oblivious to how guys stare at you whenever you go into town. You don't know that you make me _so_ goddamned nervous. You're oblivious to the fact that the way you dress drives guys crazy. You're so naive it's cute," he says, swiping a little frosting on my nose.

"I am _not_ naive," I protest, wrinkling my nose. Rachel tells me that I look like a bunny when I do that.

"You're adorable," he says, his thumb brushing my knee. I shiver.

"Mmm, you know you're not too bad on the eyes yourself," I say, biting my lip. My hand rests on his thigh.

"Wait… we went off on a tangent. I asked you to be my girlfriend, and you never responded," he says. I pause for a moment, contemplating.

"Yes," I say.

"Really?" He says hopefully.

"Yes! Yes Percy, of _course_ I'll be your girlfriend! I say, wrapping my arms around his neck. He closes the gap between us, grinning into the kiss. I hear the crunching of leaves nearby, and I pull away. He whines. Grover limps out of the darkness into the clearing.

"Oh, hey Grover," Percy says, wiping a bit of frosting from his mouth.

"Hey guys. What are you two doing out here by yourself?" He says, wiggling his eyebrows.

"We were just talking about that summer," I say.

"Yeah, didn't you hear? ABC wants to do a 'where are they now' segment on us," Percy says.

"What?" Grover says.

"We're scheduled to go in for filming in eight days. You mean, you didn't know?" I say.

"Oh, that! Yeah, I knew," he says.

"So anyways, we were just talking about what it was like after we got home," Percy says.

"Oh! What pictures did y'all give them?" I say.

"I just sent a few pictures of me from concerts and some off my Instagram," Percy says.

"I used my Instagram and I think that I sent in some of the three of us," Grover says.

"I used all of my social media. I'm pretty sure that there's a picture of me in my school uniform somewhere in there," I say.

"I have a _need_ to see your school uniform," Percy cackles. I scroll through my pictures and find a picture of me, lounging out on the front steps wearing my usual khaki skirt and red blazer with the school crest on it.

"Oh my _god_ Annabeth," Grover says, laughing at my knee high white socks. Percy looks conflicted. I elbow him in the side.

"I'll tell you later," he murmurs in my ear. I just shrug.

"That's the thing I miss most about public school: getting to wear whatever I wanted to class," I shrug.

"Yeah, can you imagine… _me_ in a private school uniform?" Percy shudders.

"Just the idea of you in pants that aren't ripped and dress shirts that aren't dark colors scares me," I say, leaning into him.

"I feel like your uniform suits you for whatever reason," Grover says.

"Yeah, it's fitting that little miss princess here wears a uniform befitting a preppy girl's school," Percy says, poking my nose. I shiver in the afternoon breeze, and Percy pulls off his jacket, draping it over me like a cape. I sigh with contentment and try to bite back my grin as Percy's nimble fingers ghost over my back. He hums under his breath. Grover's hair is a birds nest of curls and twigs. I glance up into the daytime sky, where silvery white clouds that look like cotton candy drift through the air, and golden sunlight shines down on us.

"What time is it?" I say.

"About 1:30. Why?" Grover says.

" _Fuck_. We missed lunch," Percy says.

"We're late for a counselor's meeting and you're worried about _lunch_? Come on!" I say, grabbing his arm. We sprint out of the woods and towards the big house.

"Peter, Annie Bell. How nice of you to join us," Mr D says dryly. The counselors around the table stare at us.

"For the last time, you old drunk, it's _Percy_ ," Percy mutters.

"I'm so sorry sir. There was a camper that got into trouble and needed supervision so we had to wait for a satyr to show up before we could leave," I say.

"Is there anything that we missed?" Percy says.

"Just the usual. Reminders of who's on what duty for tomorrow. Annabeth, you're on report sorting. Percy, you're on cabin inspection," Chiron says. I sigh.

"Alright," I say.

"So as I was saying, on Friday, we are taking the campers into the city to do all of the touristy things. From here on out, the campers are allowed to pick groups for trips. Now, I will send Rachel around with an itinerary for each counselor on Thursday. Are there any questions?" He says. I shake my head silently. "Great!" Now, you have fifteen minutes to set up your activity stations for the day, so chop chop!" We pour out of the room and back into the sunlight. Counselors split off the main path and head to their stations.

"Meet me on the porch of the Athena cabin tonight after your campers go to sleep," Percy says, before ducking into the bathroom with a pair of swim trunks in his hand. I continue on towards my arts and crafts station, humming under my breath. I set up the station quickly and check my phone.

 _Castellan22: look Annie, I know you hate me, and I know you're angry, but please just give me a chance_

 _You: leave me alone_

 _Castellan22: I don't trust Percy. No guy like him would ever date a girl like you unless he wanted something from you_

 _You: a guy like Percy? Percy is sweet, and funny, and kind. The only thing that he wants from me is respect and companionship. I know that he cares about me. He'd never hurt me_

The kids start scrambling down the hill and over to the stations. I glance behind me to see Percy removing his shirt. I face forward as quickly as possible, my face burning.

"Today's craft is whatever you want it to be! Get creative! Go wild!" I say, before placing a tiny white canvas on the table in front of every student. "You can paint on this, draw on it, do whatever you want to do with this canvas. It's yours." I say, sitting back down. I decide to paint a picture of the sunset last night over the water.

"Hey AMC," Rachel says, sliding in beside me.

"Hey Little RED, grab a canvas if you want," I say, not looking up from my painting. Percy blows his whistle somewhere behind us.

"So, how was your visit?" She says.

"Oh, um… good? I found out that I have a younger half brother and he's one of my campers? I don't really know _what_ to say about that. How was yours?" I say.

"My parents _FaceTimed_ me from their summer home in the Caribbean. Basically told me that they'd see me during the two weeks that I have between camp ending and school starting," she scoffs bitterly.

"That _sucks_ , Rach. I'm _so_ sorry," I say.

"I'm used to it. My parents are _super_ controlling but also extremely distant. It's strange. They'll alternate between trying to micromanage my entire life to going on vacations for weeks at a time without me," she says.

"That's not cool. Parents shouldn't treat you like that," I say. She simply shrugs.

"So, have you and Percy made up yet?" She says.

"What are you talking about?" I say, blending some colors.

"After the Fourth of July fireworks, you disappeared and he looked _miserable_. And for the weeks that you've been avoiding him, he'd barely eat, barely sleep, and barely talk. It was so sad," she says. I wince.

"Yeah, uh… we did," I stammer.

"Good. You mean a lot to him, you know. I can tell," she says. My face flushes.

"Well, I should _hope_ so! After the amount of times that I've saved his sorry butt, he _better_ value my company!" I joke, hoping to distract from my tomato colored face. We paint in silence as the kids around us work quietly. I let my mind wander and lose myself in the memories of Percy, Grover, and I on the run.

" _Run!" I hiss, as soon as we get off the smoking bus. I grab Percy's arm and drag him into the woods, with Grover behind us. We run and run until we can't see the road or anyone else._

" _Did we do it? Are we free?" Grover pants._

" _Not so fast. Now we're lost in the woods," I say._

" _Great. Where are we?" Percy whines._

" _Somewhere in New Jersey," I say._

" _What do we do?" He says. Grover looks around nervously, before grabbing a fallen branch and jabbing it into the ground._

" _We can't go back the way we came! They'll be there," Grover says._

" _We find a way out on the other side of the forest," Percy says._

" _We add a mark on this tree on the side that we came in on," I say, ripping off a strip of fabric from one of the sleeves on Grover's dirty long sleeved undershirt._

" _Hey!" He yelps._

" _Relax, we were probably going to have to rip that up for bandages at some point anyway." I say, staring up at the tree. "Perce!" I say._

" _Yeah!" He says._

" _You're basically part monkey. Can you climb up there and tangle this strip of fabric around one of those branches?" I say._

" _While I'm up there, I'll see where exactly we are," he says, shedding his sweatshirt. He begins to scale the tree, pausing to wrap the white fabric around a low hanging branch. He goes higher and higher, clambering up until he's out of sight._

" _Any ideas?" I call up._

" _I can see the bus from here," he says, climbing back down._

" _Anything about ways to get out of here?" I say impatiently._

" _Slow down Owl Head, I was getting there! About a three day walk that way-" he starts, pointing away from the tree into the much thicker forest._

" _East," Grover interrupts._

" _Fine. The three day walk east opens up to some kind of shop. If we can get there, we can call for help," he says, rolling his eyes._

" _And we can get home!" I say._

" _Will you two stop interrupting me?" Percy says._

" _Sorry," Grover murmurs._

" _Let's just go," I say._

" _Wait a sec. why are we moving farther from New York?" he says, leaning onto a stick. Percy groans._

" _Because we've got no idea how many henchmen we're dealing with. On the off chance some are still in New York, we have to find another way," I say._

" _In case this place isn't safe, I know of a safe spot in LA that's guaranteed to get us home. Or we find a small town," Percy says. We trudge through the forest, taking turns telling stories. Eventually it gets so dark that we're forced to hold hands so we don't lose track of each other._

" _We'll stop here for the night. I hear a stream nearby, and if we get up into a tree, they won't know that we're here," Grover says._

" _What about falling out of the tree?" Percy says._

" _We tie ourselves down. Percy, use your belt. You too Grover," I say._

" _And you?" Grover says._

" _I'll… use my jacket!" I say. We scale the tree, tying ourselves to three large branches._

" _I'll take first watch," Percy says._

" _Thanks Percy," I say._

" _Hoot like an owl if you see anyone," Grover says._

I smile softly. The bell for all camp beach activity rings, so I lead the kids down to the beach after we go to our cabins to change into swimsuits. I plop down on the sand next to Thalia, who's wearing a plain black bathing suit.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" She says suspiciously.

"What? Can't a girl just be happy without a reason?" I say defensively. She stares straight ahead.

"I'm just saying, you've been in a mood for _weeks_ , then you just _snapped out of it_. What changed?" She says. My face flushes as Piper and Hazel sit down beside us.

"Hey guys," I say.

"Hi," Hazel says.

"What's with the tomato face?" Piper says. Percy walks by.

"Hey Beth," he says, crouching in front of me.

"Oh. U-uh hey Percy," I stammer.

"I wanted to ask you something," he says.

"Sure, what is it?" I stutter, my face reddening even more.

"Can you help me with cabin inspections tomorrow? I'll help you file reports afterwards so we'll be done faster," he says.

"Su-sure," I stammer.

"Great. See you later," he says with an infectious grin. My heart skips a beat.

"Yeah, later," I say nervously. A small smile flickers across my face as he stands up and walks away. Piper looks between the two of us.

"No _way_. You _like_ him, don't you?" She says.

"I do _not_! I'm trying to set him back up with Rachel!" I yelp.

"Oh you _so_ like him," Thalia says.

"Thals, it's _Percy_. The same Percy who set three wild animals loose on the Vegas strip. The same Percy who… almost sacrificed himself for _us_ , a girl and boy he'd known all of about three weeks. That _same_ guy," I say. I pause to take a deep breath. "But he's the same sweet, _adorably_ rebellious boy I knew back then," I finish. Piper and Hazel look at me expectantly. "Oh. _Oh._ Gosh, I think I _like_ Percy!" I murmur into my hand, internally rolling my eyes. _Of course I like Percy. He's my boyfriend!_

"Ladies and gentlemen, she _finally_ gets it!"

Thalia announces. I groan and shove her.

"Shut up," I say.

"I knew it! I knew it!" Piper says. I stretch and lay out on my towel, removing the clothes that I was using as a cover up.

"So what do y'all want to do?" I say, listening as the kids start to play. The girls laugh and run to the water. I roll my eyes and sit up before starting to apply sunscreen to my body. I scan the beach, searching for counselors. Katie is currently weaving together strands of seaweed, while Travis and Connor are splashing each other about waist deep in the water. Leo is burying Jason in sand, as Frank stares out at the horizon. _He's watching Hazel._ I wander over to him. "Frank?" He jolts.

"Oh! Annabeth! What's up?" He says. I sit beside him.

"So, you like Hazel, don't you?" I say. His face flushes.

"Is it that obvious?" He says.

"Only if you've been in a position where you've crushed on a friend from afar," I say.

"I just… I can't help it, you know? She's just so sweet and adorable," he says, wringing his hands.

"Yeah, she really is such a great girl," I say.

"Annabeth? Chiron needs two counselors to set something up in the woods for cabin vs cabin activities. Wanna come with? Chiron says that if we do it we get another twenty minutes on break," Percy says, stopping in front of me. I hold my hands out and he lifts me to my feet.

"Let's do it. Nice talking to you Frank!" I say. Percy and I walk up the hill and towards the cabins. "What are we doing? I thought we had to go into the forest," I ask, starting to get suspicious.

"We've got to put on appropriate clothes," he says, before breaking off the path and heading into his cabin. I turn and walk towards mine. I tug on a pair of leggings and a cute striped shirt. I slip my feet into a pair of sneakers and pull my hair back into a curly ponytail. I step back out into the afternoon sun. I walk over to Percy's door and knock.

"Hey Jackson, hurry up!" I call.

"Hey," he says breathlessly, taking my arm as soon as he walks through the door.

"Hi," I say, leaning into him. We shuffle quickly towards the forest.

"So Chiron wants us to paint a straight line starting at the edge of the forest and continuing to about a quarter of the way into the forest," he says, hoisting his bag higher onto his shoulder.

"Alright," I shrug. He passes me a bright orange lawn paint can. Then I get to work. It's quiet for awhile as the two of us paint. He jokes around, swaggering from place to place. I grin, humming to myself as I work.

"Come on," he says, suddenly appearing at my side. I jump.

"Jesus Percy! You scared the _shit_ out of me!" I yelp, placing my hand over my racing heart.

"Sorry Beth. But let's go into the forest," he says, wrapping his cold calloused fingers around my wrist. He leads me between a few trees, painting as we go. I stare at the back of his head, at the mess of black hair flopping around his ears. I smile fondly. We continue into the thick forest, until I can barely see three feet in front of me.

"Perce, can we stop for a second?" I say, leaning against a tree.

"Uh, yeah sure," he says. He leans against the tree beside me.

"So what do you plan to do after school ends?" I say.

"I don't know. Probably focus on music?" He says awkwardly.

"And why'd you get into music?" I say, leaning against him.

"Remember how I said that I grew up in East Harlem?" He says. I nod. "Well, it was me, my mom, Gabe, and his ever rotating cast of bums. Through it all, through every single beating, every single terrible day, music was there. So I used the little bit of money I had saved up to buy an acoustic guitar when I was twelve, and I never looked back. Music gave me a way out. It gave me a place to belong. And I want to give that same feeling to others." He says.

"That's sweet," I murmur.

"And when I make it, I'm going to buy my mom this nice house by the beach," he says with a wistful smile.

"Perseus Jackson, you are something else," I say, shaking my head slightly. He turns towards me, his pupils blown wide and his neck flushed.

"Say that again," he rasps, leaning closer to me.

"Percy?" I say confusedly.

"No, my full name," he says, his lips grazing mine as he speaks.

"Perseus," I murmur breathlessly. He pulls me into a passionate kiss. His tongue slides into my mouth, and his hands cup my cheeks. I let my hands roam, and I feel the familiar tingling in my gut. Percy pulls away, sucking on my bottom lip. I grin, my vision slightly hazy. "What was that for?" I say breathlessly.

"What, can't I find my gorgeous girlfriend attractive?" He smirks. I laugh.

"You big dork," I say, twirling a strand of hair around my finger.

"I'm serious Annabeth, you're the prettiest girl I've ever seen," he says.

"Aww, Perce, that's so sweet of you," I coo. His face flushes.

"Yeah, well," he stammers. He sits down against the tree, and I follow suit. _Man, if Luke could see me now, he'd flip_.

"Rachel still likes you," I say quietly, staring at his stubbly chin.

"I know. But I like _you_ ," he says, poking my nose.

"Hey, slow your roll there Romeo," I joke, elbowing him in the side. A branch cracks.

"Hey did you hear something?" He says.

"Yeah, it's probably nothing-" I say, getting interrupted by a bucket falling on my head. "What the fu-" I yelp, as whatever was in the bucket starts to drip down my face.

"Are you okay?" He says.

"Ugh, is this corn syrup?" I groan, wiping it out of my eyes.

"Let's get you cleaned up," he says taking my hand and leading me out of the woods.

"Who dropped that bucket?" I say.

"My money's on the Stolls," he sighs, picking a leaf out of my hair.

"I'm gonna go shower. See you later," I say, stumbling up the steps of my cabin. I scrub the corn syrup out of my hair and skin until my arms hurt. I step out of the shower and sigh, wiping off my makeup and pulling my hair into a messy bun. I throw on an old pair of overalls and a cute shirt, before pulling on an old pair of slip on shoes. I walk out of my cabin with my hands in my pockets. "Hey Piper!" I say, as Piper walks by.

"Hey Chase! Weren't you wearing something else earlier?" She says.

"Stolls got me with a bucket of red corn syrup," I say, kicking a pebble.

"Well I like it. You look comfy," she says. I smile sheepishly.

"I'm going on break, see ya," I say. I bound up the steps of the big house and into the break room. Percy is sitting there tuning the guitar. "Hey hon," I say, kissing his cheek.

"Hey… _woah_ ," he says looking up at me.

"What? Do I have something on my face still?" I say nervously.

"No… you look-" he starts.

"Horrible? I know. That's why I wear makeup almost all the time," I interrupt.

"No, you look _beautiful_ ," he says, wiping a stray eyelash from my cheek. I blush so hard that I don't think my face will ever go back to normal.

"So what're you doing?" I say, sitting beside him.

"I'm getting ready to play," he says, strumming the strings.

"So I'm finally going to hear you perform?" I say.

"Yep. Your final birthday gift: a personal concert from yours truly," he smirks. I laugh. "So this song is called 'Honestly'," he says, before strumming the opening chords. His voice is clear and deep, reminding me of still water. Now, I might be biased in saying this, but I can't help the thought that Percy could be the lead singer of his band if he'd just _believe_ in himself. I start to sway back and forth to the music during the first chorus, smiling softly. His foot keeps time throughout the entire song.

" _Wow_. That was _amazing_! Why didn't you tell me that you could sing like that?" I say, throwing my arms around his neck.

"I guess you'd never asked," he says sheepishly.

"Percy, you're _really_ good! And I'm not just saying that as your girlfriend. I'm saying that as a listener," I say. He kisses my lips softly, and grabs my hips, pulling me into his lap. I rest my head on his firm chest and breathe in his scent.

"You're the best," he murmurs into my damp hair. I slide the guitar out from between us and snuggle deeper into his chest. I can't help but find his singing voice downright _irresistible_ , and hearing his voice directly from his chest somehow makes him sound even more husky and even more _hot_. _Get a grip Annabeth! You can't just jump his bones!_ I clench my fists for a few moments until that feeling goes away, and then I glance up at Percy. His eyes are closed in bliss, and his face is free of all the worry and stress that normally marrs his complexion. I absentmindedly hum and sway back and forth. He groans and opens his eyes. With a start, I realize that I'm still sitting on his lap.

"Oops!" I say, covering my mouth. I feel something poking me in the thigh.

"Annabeth," he moans quietly, his voice raspy.

" _Shit_ ," I say quietly, sliding off of him.

"Do you have _any_ idea of what you've done?" He says in mock anger.

"I appear to have accidentally awoken little Percy," I smirk, gesturing to the bulge in his jeans. He claps his hands over his reddening cheeks.

"You're laughing at me!" He yelps defensively.

"I'm sorry," I snicker.

"You are so not making this easy," he whines.

"I am never, _ever_ going to make things easy for you Seaweed Brain. Get used to it," I say, before getting up and giving him a chaste kiss on his lips. "We'll talk later, okay?" I say, before turning on my heel and sashaying out the door. I lean against the wall outside and sigh, crossing my arms over my stomach. The walk down to the dining pavilion is quiet, and I can hear Percy's boots crunching on the dry grass behind me. I hop into line, Percy hot on my heels. Thalia pats the open spot on the bench beside her, and I gratefully take a seat.

"Where on earth have you been? You and Percy just _disappeared_!" Thalia says.

"Working," I shrug as Percy sits down at the end of the table, beside Jason. Piper, Thalia, and I chat amicably as we eat, and I feel eyes on the side of my face.

"Percy's _totally_ staring at you!" Piper hisses, glancing over my shoulder.

"What? Why?" I say, whirling around to face him. He turns a bright red and looks away.

"Idiot! Everyone knows that you don't turn and look when a guy is checking you out!" Thalia says.

" _Please_ , he's so _not_ checking me out!" I scoff.

"You're oblivious. He _totally_ likes you!" Thalia snaps.

"Thals! He's just a friend!" I yelp.

"Mmhhmm, sure. I've seen the way he looks at you," she says.

"He looks like a lovesick puppy dog," Piper says.

"Shut up," I say, jokingly shoving her arm.

"Annabeth, can I talk to you real quick?" Rachel says from behind me.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, sure!" I say, before getting up and following her away from the tables. "So what's up?"

"Annabeth, I just wanted you to know that it's okay," she says.

"What?" I say.

"I can tell that Percy's totally into you. It's okay. Honestly, I'm a bit hurt, but I'll survive. Just, treat him well, okay?" She sighs.

"That's ridiculous! Why would he be into _me_?" I yelp.

"Well, you're funny, smart, pretty, and sweet. What guy wouldn't like you?" She says. I blush.

"I'm so sorry Rachel. I tried, I really did," I say apologetically.

"We don't choose who we fall for," she says.

"Rachel-" I start.

"The boy is so far gone for you, it's insane," she says. I squeeze my eyes shut and think of the future, of _my_ future with Percy.

" _As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, 'The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams'. Now, I don't know if that's 100 percent true, but we've certainly all had a dream in our lives. And maybe for some of you, this school was your dream. I know that the future may seem scary or foreign to you, but ladies, we've been preparing for this day since we first put on our East River uniforms. A lot has changed since then, as we've grown and matured, but East River is a part of who we are, and a part of who we'll become._

 _Graduation is one of those awkward times in our lives when we are torn between the joy of our memories and the excitement of our future. Should we look back on what were the greatest four years of our lives – times filled with joy from the boisterous sounds of that first spring day out on the green, the aroma of chicken finger day in the cafeteria, the resounding ring of the class bells, or the calmness of the library? Or instead should we focus on the next stage in this journey called life? We've been impatiently waiting for this day for four years – and now, we just want to hit pause. We want to slow it down, and enjoy the last fleeting moments. Our lives will be forever altered after we toss our caps into the air. But that change, that confusing change that all of us will go through as we cease to be East River students and become adult women wherever we may find ourselves next? That is truly our next adventure. And though we may not all do it together, we will always be one. For we are the East River Jaguars class of 2018, and nothing stands in our way. So as we all leave this hallowed institution one last time, I'd like to remind you of the quote I gave at the beginning of this speech: 'The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams'. Well, we've dreamed our dreams, we've made our plans, and now the future belongs to us. I know we'll accomplish great things. Thank you," I say, holding onto the podium, my cap slightly crooked as it desperately grips onto my hair. My feet are starting to hurt a little in my shoes, but I have a wide grin on my face as I step away from the mic. I stare out into the stands where the guests are watching, and take my seat between Hannah Carter and Rebecca Clancer. The rest of the ceremony passes in a blur, and my palms itch with anticipation as we finally remove our caps and throw them into the air. Girls around me are crying and hugging each other as I slowly make my way towards my family, unfastening my gown._

" _I'm so proud of you sweetie!" Dad says._

" _Percy! You came?" I squeal, launching myself at him._

" _Of course I did! I had to see my girl graduate!" He says, laughing. The girls around me whisper._

" _What's a guy like that doing here? And how does Annabeth Chase know him?" Katelyn McFarlane whispers behind me._

" _Aww, and you even dressed up! How adorable," I coo, straightening his black tie and smoothing a crease in his gray dress shirt. Of course, he's paired it with his quintessential black leather jacket._

" _What, I can look suave and put together!" He yelps. I laugh._

" _Come on Casanova. You're taking me out for dinner to celebrate," I laugh, pulling on his tie to force him to bend down to my level._

" _And why would I-" he starts, before I cut him off with a deep kiss. "Yeah, okay. Is pizza good? We could order in and chill?" He says._

" _I'd love pizza," I grin._

" _I'm so proud of you sweetheart," he says, poking my nose._

" _Thanks hon," I say._

" _I love you," he says._

" _Aww, I love you too you big dork!" I laugh, gripping my diploma. He flips my tassel to the left and lifts me off my feet. I laugh and wrap my arms around his neck, before my feet graze the ground again, and I grab two fistfuls of his leather jacket and slam my lips against his. the twins start gagging behind me._

" _oi! lovebirds let's go!" Helen says from somewhere off to my left. Percy pulls away and blushes, and I laugh embarrassedly._

" _congratulations, little miss valedictorian," he murmurs, taking my arm and leading me out of the school._

"I… I have to go," I stammer, wringing my hands nervously.

"Treat him well Annabeth," she says as I stumble away. I walk back towards the girls.

"What did Rachel want to talk about?" Thalia says.

"Just girl stuff, the usual," I shrug. I shake my head to rid myself of the mental image of Percy, clad in a plain white button down and a black tie, his sleeves rolled up as he twirls his dad's pen between his long fingers. "Whew! It's been a long day, hasn't it?" I say, fanning my face.

"You alright there?" Piper says.

"Yeah, I'm totally fine! Just a little warm," I stammer.

"Yeah, you look flushed," Thalia remarks, before turning back to her chicken.

"I think I just need some water," I say, before gulping down a few sips.

"At least we can sit out during cabin vs cabin games tonight," Piper remarks, twirling her plastic fork in mock joy.

"Nope not really. We're getting prepped on the annual Color War," Hazel says. There are a series of groans.

"Hey! Cheer up, y'all! The Color War is a tradition here, and it's actually a _lot_ of fun. I know it may seem like a lot of boring work now, but wait until August! It's gonna be great, but we all have to be positive till then, okay?" I say loudly.

"Easy for you to say, _Little Miss Peppy Pants_. You've done this before. I don't know if you've realized this, but some of us don't really _do_ color," Percy grumbles.

"Shut it Jackson. We may not like it, but it's for the _campers_. So quit your bellyachin' Mister," I retort.

"So, you never told me how you got Percy out of the way during that first game of capture the flag," Thalia says.

"It's so _embarrassing_!" I yelp.

"Listen. That might be important information for Color War. So spill," she says.

"I _umm_ … seduced him and led him far enough away from the flag that he was of no use," I mutter. Piper chokes on her water.

"You _what_?" Thalia says. I flush bright red.

"And it _worked_!?" Piper coughs.

"Of _course_ it worked. Percy is still a teenaged boy, is he not? You just have to get the idea in their head, then show a little skin and you've got them hooked. Never actually tried it on anyone before him, but hey, the cheerleaders at my school appeared to be right!" I say with a casual wave of my hand.

"Annabeth Chase, you _sly dog_!" Thalia says.

"What? I've gotta put my looks to use somehow, right?" I joke. Water from my hair drips down my neck. Piper high fives me.

"Yes girl!" She says. My phone buzzes against my hip.

"Hang on," I say, pulling it out of my pocket and unlocking it.

 _castellan22: hey Annie i need to ask you something. A few of us from Appleton are getting together on Wednesday at my place. You wanna come?_

 _You: I want absolutely nothing to do with Appleton high school, or any of your asshole friends_

 _castellan22: for a while they were your friends too sweetheart_

 _You: and for a while, I was your girl. Leave me alone dickhead. Why would I ever want to see the people who made my life hell? I'm blocking you now. Take a hint and fuck off_

I block his twitter handle and turn off my phone.

"Sorry guys. Just an annoyingly persistent ex," I say blandly. My hands betray my fear as they tremble wildly.

"You're shaking. Are you sure you're alright?" Thalia says.

"Yeah, totally! He just turned up to visitation today and Perce had to scare him off. It was _awful_ ," I say.

"Percy 'Anger is my Middle Name' Jackson? What the hell did he even do?" Piper says.

"Used his deluxe 'I'll kill you later' stare. That stare got him labeled a terrorist and had a nationwide manhunt going for him when we were twelve. Mmm, that was a _fun_ time," I say. A few crumbs spill down my shirt.

"Oh yeah, the manhunt!" Thalia says.

"That boy is going to be the death of me, I swear," I drawl. My accent sounds oddly thicker there. I remember Percy saying that my southern accent gets more pronounced as I get more tired, like the way he talks slower when he's sleepy. I yawn. _There it is._ My eyes flutter shut.

" _Annie, I'm back! And I brought you some more books," Luke calls, stepping into our little shelter. His grin is wide and gap toothed, and his eyes bright with mischief. There's no scar on his young face._

" _Thanks Luke! Any updates on the outside?" I say. My curly hair is brushed into two thick braids. I run my tongue along the spot where my front tooth used to be._

" _Patience! I was getting there!" He laughs, ruffling my hair._

" _And?" I say, bouncing up and down, the sleeves of my stolen jacket flopping around._

" _There was this girl… I think she might've been like us. She was real skinny, real dirty, and real tired. I helped her smuggle out some food from the grocery store and picked up quite the haul for us," he says, peeling his backpack off his shoulders._

" _Is that-" I gasp as he opens his bag. The glow of our small trash can fire illuminates the contents._

" _Yep! I scored some candy for us as a treat," he smirks._

" _You're the best!" I say. We eat in silence until the door is broken down._

" _NYPD! Hands where I can see em!" The police officer shouts, pointing his gun at us. We both stick our hands up in shock._

" _Holy… Murph! This is that girl who went missing months ago in Highland County, Virginia!" The officer shouts to his partner as he switches from his gun to his flashlight. A bright, white light shines in our faces, and I shrink back._

" _And isn't that the kid who's a person of interest in all those convenience store robberies?" The man's partner, Murph, says, gesturing to Luke._

"Beth?" Percy says, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah?" I say.

"You spaced again. Are you okay?" He says, as Thalia scoots over to allow him in.

"Sorry. Just thinking," I say.

"Of what?" He says.

"Luke," I say meekly. He sighs and slides in next to me.

"What did he do?" He says.

"Percy, it's fine. I blocked everything of his that I could find. I was just wondering where it all went so wrong. He used to be sweet. He used to be caring, and funny, but then he got mugged. Almost overnight, he changed into someone that I barely recognized. Sure, he _looked_ like my Luke, but he acted-" I say.

"Like a dick," Percy interrupts.

"Exactly! But there were still those few moments where he seemed… almost _normal_ , like the old Luke was coming back. I thought I could help him. But I couldn't," I say sadly.

"Beth, it's not your fault. Sometimes, a person can't be helped until they decide to help themselves. Don't blame yourself for what he did. Don't blame yourself for who he became. Just… focus on your needs. Do what _you_ want," he says, rubbing small circles on my back.

"Thanks. Sorry, he just tried to hit me up again," I say.

"He did _what_?" he says, his voice steely calm. His eye twitches.

"Perce, honey, it's okay. I'm okay. I've blocked every single account of his so he won't bother me again. There's no need to go all 'Protective Percy' on me," I say.

"Sorry, I can't help it. You and Grover are all I've got," he says.

"Not true. You've got Thalia, Jason, Nico, Ace, CJ, Xander, Tommy, Leo, Piper, Frank, Hazel, Travis, Connor, Katie, Will, and Lou," I say.

"But the three of us? We're a trio. The _original_ trio, in fact. We've seen some shit together. As much as I love the others, they don't know what we've been through," he says. I shudder.

"Sorry, just remembered Crusty's Waterbed Emporium," I say.

"You mean, that wacko who jumped straight outta the seventies and tied you and Grover to that insane bed? Yeah I remember him," he says.

"You _decapitated_ him!" I yelp.

"With his own axe, that he was trying to use to hack the two of you to shreds. In a court of law, that counts as justifiable homicide. I still wish that it didn't have to end with a murder, but I had to save you two," he says, burying his face in his hands.

"Oh, hon," I say, wrapping an arm around him and squeezing his bicep in what I hope is a comforting gesture.

"Wait. Back up. Percy _killed_ a man?" Piper yelps.

"Shh Percy, shh. You didn't mean it. You never meant to hurt anyone. It's okay," I say.

"I freaking _decapitated_ him Beth! Whether or not I meant it, I still ended a man's life, and I still shot Ares!" He chokes out.

"You _had_ to. Remember why you did those things," I murmur.

"To protect _you,"_ he says.

"Exactly. You did it to save your friends, because that's _exactly_ the type of guy you are. You're noble, you're loyal and protective. If it had been anyone else in your place, they'd have tried to save themselves. But you didn't care about your well being. You were trying to help _us_ ," I say, leaning into him. He smiles, not his normal lopsided grin, but a small, almost broken smile.

"Of course I tried to help! You're my girl Chase!" He says, bumping his knee against mine.

"We'd only known each other for about two and a half weeks at that point," I say.

"Still, you nursed me back to health when I got beaten badly. You got me medical attention for my snakebite, even though it slowed our progress and got us recaptured. You could've left me to die. But you _didn't_. So consider it even. You saved me from that snake, and I saved you from an axe wielding madman," he says.

"You're an idiot," I laugh breathlessly, still reeling from Percy calling me 'his girl' in front of the whole camp.

"Yeah, but I'm _your_ idiot," he murmurs in my ear. My face flushes. I hum Percy's song absentmindedly as he rests his chin on top of my head.

"Percy! You're gonna mess up my hair!" I whine.

"What are you talking about? It looks fine Annabeth," he says.

"Says Mr 'I rolled out of bed this morning and gelled my hair without even brushing it'," I say, folding my arms across my chest.

"So?" He says.

"Percy, I have curly hair. It will _not_ cooperate. I've broken three brushes since this month started. I'm going to have to spend two hours detangling it tonight. I am _not_ losing anything of yours in this mane," I say. He sighs and scoots away, just enough so that he's still touching me if he wants to, but not close enough that others get suspicious.

"What do you think the shoot will be like? Do you think it will be anything like that TV interview that we did?" He says.

"You mean, the one where you promised everyone in Los Angeles free appliances from your stepdad's store? I doubt it," I snark.

"Gabe nearly knocked my teeth out for that one," he huffs.

"It's gonna be _fine_. We'll get through it," I say reassuringly.

"I don't know…" he says nervously.

"Just think of it as one of your concerts! Turn up that charm to an eleven. Plug your band. Heck, I'll plug your band for you," I say.

"Oh _please_ Beth. You and I both know that you're going to wear some girly outfit just like you do almost every day. I doubt that you'd go on national television wearing punk band merch," he says.

"Speaking of that, what're you planning to wear? Your mom asked me to make sure you look presentable," I say.

"No clue. Probably my leather jacket and some band shirt," he shrugs.

"Percy, not that I don't _love_ your punk aesthetic, because I do, but black doesn't work on television. Neither does white. You're best off wearing pastels or blue," I say.

"Dang it!" He groans.

"Hey, we'll compromise. I'll let you wear your black skinny jeans and a beanie if you just wear a semi presentable shirt for your mom. I _really_ don't want to get on her bad side," I say.

"Beth, my mom loves you. See?" He says, pulling out his phone and displaying his texts with his mom.

 _Mom: that Annabeth is so sweet_

 _You: mom what_

 _Mom: that Annabeth girl. The one you mentioned in your letters?_

 _You: what about her?_

 _Mom: she seems well adjusted and kind. She's a good influence on you_

 _You:Thanks I'll tell her u said that_

 _Mom: I wouldn't mind having a girl like that around our apartment_

 _You: ?_

 _Mom: she's cute Percy make a move_

 _You: ew no she's my best friend why would I risk that_

I snort.

"So your mom's already nagging you to find a girlfriend?" I laugh.

"Oh shut up," he says, his face flushed.

"I think it's sweet. At least your mom _cares_ ," I say, unable to mask the resentment in my voice.

"The relationship between you and your mother will come, Beth. You just have to give it time," he says reassuringly.

"Thanks. Race you to the game?" I say.

"You're on," he says, and we run. My legs fly over the dirt, and I laugh as my bun falls even more, bouncing against my head as I run. I skid to a stop, looking around. Percy stops abruptly a bit behind me.

"I win!" I chirp, pulling out my bun. My hair tumbles back down in frizzy curls, going every which way.

"You cheated!" He yelps.

"No I didn't. I just ran faster than you. It's not hard. You're kind of a slowpoke," I say, placing my hands on my hips. He grins.

"That's my girl," he says, his voice filled with pride. I blush cherry red and smack his arm lightly.

"Hush," I say.

"I still can't believe you said yes," he says quietly.

"Come on dork, what was I going to do, say no?" I joke.

"Honestly, I was worried you would. I'd been planning this for over a week, and I thought someone would figure it out or you'd say no," he says.

"That's so sweet!" I say.

"That's not all. Happy birthday, Beth," he says, pulling a small box out of his pocket. I gratefully accept it and remove the lid. I remove a beautiful seashell necklace from the box with trembling fingers. the shell dangling off the leather cord is white, mottled with light pink and purple splotches.

"It's _beautiful_. Did you make this?" I say.

"Yeah. It's one of the shells from that beach in Santa Monica, where we had our first kiss. D'you like it?" He says.

"I _love_ it," I grin, throwing my arms around him. He smiles and taps out a rhythm on my back.

"Do you want me to put it on you?" He murmurs. I nod, not trusting my voice. I turn around, and he fastens the little clasp around my neck. My fingers graze the shell.

"Seriously Percy, this is _incredible_! How long did this take you?" I say, rubbing the shell. He drapes his arms over my shoulders, and I grip his arm.

"Thanks," he says.

"This day just keeps getting better!" I say, looking up at him. To my surprise, he's already staring down at me. My eyes dart to his lips, and he leans down slowly, pressing his lips against mine in another kiss. My head spins, and I feel like I'm floating away as his lips move in unison with mine. _Best birthday ever._ "Percy." I murmur between gentle kisses. He says nothing, just holding me tighter. "This is the best birthday I've ever had. Thank you."

"Mmm. Happy birthday angel," he mutters, before letting out a yawn. His breath smells strongly of mint. He untangles himself from me and we sit down on the edge of the forest.

"So, who else knows about us?" I say.

"nobody. I _really_ want to tell my friends when I see them on Wednesday, but I don't know if you're cool with that," he says.

"When can I meet them?" I ask.

"If you take off on Wednesday, you could come with me," he says.

"D'you think they'll like me? I mean, we're nothing alike!" I say nervously.

"Of course they'll like you!" He yelps.

"It's just- they mean so much to you," I say.

"So you'll come?" He says hopefully.

"Yeah. Maybe we can grab a bite to eat or something?" I say.

"It's a date!" He says.

"What's a date?" Piper says, plopping down in front of us. Thalia and Hazel follow suit.

"Oh, we were just planning on going into the city on Wednesday to scout out potentially bad locations for our trip. We were going to grab some food before we came back," I say. The other counselors and campers all stumble down to the location for the game. Chiron clears his throat, and everyone turns to face him. Percy takes the opportunity to lace his long bony fingers through mine. I tune out Chiron's voice and stare straight ahead.

" _Annie?" Luke's voice says, seeming to come from all directions. The world around me freezes. He sounds… younger almost, as if the events of the past few years never happened._

" _Luke? Is that you?" I say. He appears in front of me, clad only in a striped sweater and jeans. His feet are bare, and he looks almost exactly as I remember him when we were younger. His hair is neatly combed, and cropped short at his ears, the top slightly longer. I vaguely recognize it as the only picture that I saved of him, the one where we sat on the fire escape and watched the hustle and bustle of New York City below us. That was about two years before he asked me out._

" _What, do you really not recognize me?" He smirks. My heart hurts._

" _No… it's just been awhile," I say._

" _Yeah. You've grown up, Annie. It feels like just yesterday I came across that scared little girl behind that dumpster, but look at you! You've matured so much," he says._

" _Luke-" I start._

" _And who's the boy?" He says, raising a blond eyebrow._

" _This is Percy. My boyfriend," I say._

" _Ooh, have a thing for bad boys, do ya?" He smirks. I laugh._

" _Shut up," I say._

" _Anyways, I came for a reason," he says._

" _Which is?" I say, suddenly suspicious of this boy._

" _Your subconscious sent me. To get out your feelings of betrayal and anger towards me. So you can be at peace with what happened and move forward," he says, with a kind smile upon his unscarred face._

" _I-I can't. The Luke that I see in front of me never hurt me. You were always kind and sweet. It was a different Luke Castellan," I sob. He frowns, and then starts to grow another three inches. A long scar appears on his face, and his hair grows slightly longer. His once kind smile twists into a grotesque grin._

" _How about now?" He says, his voice deeper. I shudder and squeeze Percy's hand tighter, burying my face in the crook of his neck and taking a few calming breaths. I glare up at him._

" _Why?" I shriek. "Why are you doing this to me?" He says nothing, just smirks. I sob harder and slowly untangle myself from Percy, who's frozen staring blankly at Chiron. Luke laughs, and opens his arms, as if inviting me to attack him. I sob, punching him again and again. "I hate you! Why'd you hurt me? I said no! Why? Why?" I scream, my knuckles bruising as I hit him. He doesn't answer. "I trusted you. I cared for you. I loved you. And you betrayed me." Tears are streaming down my face at this point. "I will never forgive you for what you've done. I will never forget how you've wronged me. But I'm going to move forward in my life. For Percy. Sweet, kind, loyal Percy, who doesn't deserve to deal with this mess. Oh, and one more thing." I say, before grabbing him and judo flipping him directly into a tree. He groans as he collapses to the ground in a heap. "Fuck you and fuck your little dickhead friends." I mark each word with a kick to the ribs. Then I watch as he disappears. I sit back down and lace my fingers through Percy's, resting my head on his arm._

"Beth?" Percy hisses.

"Mmm?" I murmur, opening my eyes.

"My arm's asleep, can you move for a sec?" He whispers. I nod and scoot away, releasing his hand. He raises his arms above his head.

"Yes Percy?" Chiron says. Everyone turns to face us.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry. I don't have a question I was just stretching," Percy says sheepishly, dropping his hands. Everyone slowly turns back to Chiron and I slowly curl back up into Percy's embrace, my head on his chest. He absentmindedly twists the ring on his finger. He looks lost in thought, so I poke him in the ribs.

"You have that 'I'm thinking' look on your face. What's wrong?" I say quietly, untangling myself as we stand up with the other counselors.

"Just thinking about the fact that if I don't find a way to get a scholarship, there's no way that my mom can afford college," he murmurs sadly.

"Wait. This might be an odd question, but was your dad by chance one of the Navy personnel lost in the wreck of the USS Oceanus?" I say.

"Yeah, why?" He says, crossing his arms. We walk behind Chiron.

"Well, I think I know a way for your entire college tuition to be paid off.

"Yeah, how?" He says, perking up.

"The GI Bill," I say.

"The what now?" He says.

"The GI Bill. Have you _never_ heard of this?" I say incredulously.

"I've _totally_ heard of it, but can you do me a favor and explain what exactly it means and how it affects me?" He says.

"Fine you dork! Okay so since your dad served our country, he qualified for the GI Bill, meaning that he had fifteen years to utilize the benefits after getting out of the Navy. Those benefits include things like a free college education. But since he… err… went missing in action, that means that the benefits pass to his children once they turn eighteen. And that means…" I say.

"That I get a free college degree?" He says. I nod. "Annabeth, you're a genius!" He says, his voice booming as he squeezes me into a bone crushing hug. My feet lift off the ground. The rest of the group turns to stare at us.

"You… just… have… to… apply…" I squeak.

"Where do I do that?" He says.

"The Veterans Affairs office on West Houston Street. Building 245," I squeak.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," he says, putting me down. He shoves his hands in his pockets. "Wait. Where's my phone?" He says.

"Need me to call it for you?" I say.

"That'd be great, would you?" He says. I pull out my phone and scroll down in my contacts to find him. _Calling: Percy_. A picture of Percy lounging on the Big House porch, clad in his quintessential shredded jeans and leather jacket with his hair going every which way fills up my screen. His eyes are gleaming with amusement, his mouth open in silent laughter. The real boy saunters over to where we were sitting and picks up his phone. Just as he grabs it, it goes to voicemail. As he walks back over to me, I see his phone screen. _1 missed call from: Annabae_.

"Hey Perce. Quick question, what's my contact photo in your phone?" I say.

"Hmm? Oh! It's just a picture of you sitting under Thalia's Pine," he says, showing it to me. In the picture, one of the sleeves of my pale yellow dress has slid off my shoulder, and there's a book sitting in my lap. I appear to be looking past the camera, my lips twisted into a wide grin. I look up and notice that the rest of our group is far ahead.

"Oh crap. Come on!" I yelp, grabbing his arm and dragging him forward. He stumbles behind me as we run to catch up. We fall in behind Travis and Connor.

"Jeez, was that really necessary?" He says, rubbing his arm.

"Aww, you _poor_ thing! Do you want me to kiss it better?" I coo, pinching his cheeks in a joking manner.

"You're mocking me," he pouts.

"Oh god, not the puppy dog face! You know I can't resist the puppy dog face!" I say, shielding my eyes in mock horror. He laughs, and then I feel this strange tickling sensation. I move my hands, and see Percy tickling me, a mischievous grin on his face. "Percy, stop! That tickles!" I gasp between bouts of laughter.

"Never!" He says, laughing at my expression. I reach my arms out and tickle him. He lets out an adorable high pitched squeak, before slapping both hands over his mouth. A few counselors turn around. "Tell me I _didn't_ just make that sound." He says, his face turning blood red.

"No can do," I giggle.

"How embarrassing!" He groans.

"Hey… it was cute. So don't sweat it, alright?" I say, elbowing him in the side before speeding up to join Thalia.

"Hey Chase," she says.

"Hey Grace," I reply.

"You seem to be spending a lot of time with my cousin," she says, pulling the sleeve of her shirt off of her sunburnt shoulder. I wince.

"Jeez, that looks bad. Do you want some aloe or something?" I say sympathetically, silently praying that she doesn't notice my attempt to evade her questions.

"Nah. Thanks though. But you _have_ been spending an inordinate amount of time with him. Did something happen?" She says.

"Thalia! He's just my friend!" I yelp. She bursts out laughing. "What's so funny?" I say, crossing my arms.

"It's just- I've seen the way he looks at you-" she starts, still laughing.

"Like a _friend_?" I interrupt, raising an eyebrow.

"No. Like you put the stars in the sky. Like you are the most beautiful thing he's ever seen," she says.

"Oh _please_ ," I say, flipping my hair off my left shoulder.

"I'm serious!" She says.

"Yeah, sure. And I'm the queen of Sweden," I snap. I turn around and glance at Percy, who offers a small wave and a grin. I stare straight ahead and walk onwards in silence.

"So, even cabins are on red and odd cabins are on blue," Chiron says. Thalia and I high five.

"Same team? Yes!" Piper says, falling into step with us.

"Hey Pipes," I say, glancing at my phone. My father is texting me. I scoot away from the group so nobody can see my phone.

 _Dad: hey sweetie. We're leaving on Saturday morning if you wanted to see us again_

 _You: I'll be in the city on Friday working, but hopefully I'll see you_

 _Dad: okay_

 _You: Percy asked me to be his girlfriend after y'all left btw_

 _Dad: what? What did you say?_

 _You: I said yes_

 _Dad: why_

 _You: because dad, he's sweet and kind and funny and loyal and protective_

 _Dad: do you really want to risk it?_

 _You: yeah I trust him. He's saved my life even at the risk of losing his own. And he said that if he even gave a hint of transforming into Luke, I had the right to dump him on the spot_

 _Dad: YOU TOLD HIM_

 _You: not everything. I just told him that Luke was my ex and he ran me out of my old school after I broke up with him. I also told him that he became manipulative and jealous towards the end._

 _Dad: alright_

 _You: I gotta go. Love you_

 _Dad: Love you too_

I turn off my phone and walk along the outskirts of the group.

"Hey Wise Girl! You ready to get your ass handed to you?" Percy says from behind me. I jump at his voice.

"Christ Percy, you scared me!" I yelp, turning around. "And what do you mean by that? We _all_ know that red team is going to win," I scoff, once my heart has stopped racing.

"You wanna bet?" He smirks.

"Of course," I say.

"How bout a little _wager_? Whoever's on the losing team has to jump into the canoe lake in their underwear," he says with a sly grin.

"Deal. Get ready to lose, Seaweed Brain," I smirk.

"In your dreams, Wise Girl," he says. I laugh, lifting my hair off of my neck and into a ponytail, simply to have something to do with my hands. I shiver as an evening breeze blows.

"God, sleeveless was _not_ a good idea," I mutter, rubbing my exposed arms.

"Here," Percy says, pulling his sweatshirt off.

"But what about you? You'll be cold!" I protest.

"Just take it babe," he says, offering it to me. I gratefully accept it and pull it over my body. About a foot of extra fabric remains between my hands and the sleeves of the sweatshirt. The hem hits just above my knee, and the hood flops completely over my face. I pull it down and sigh, completely enveloped in the scent of chocolate chip cookies and seawater.

"Thanks," I say. He crosses his arms over his plain gray shirt and pretends not to be cold. "Oh, you must be freezing!" I yelp.

"I'll be fine," he says. I grab his hand and force it into the sleeve of his jacket, gripping it tightly in my own.

"There! That should be a little better!" I chirp, balancing on my tiptoes to keep from wrenching Percy's arm out of socket. As we stumble along, I feel my cheeks start to hurt from the silly grin that rests upon my face. Percy's face twists into a calm smile too, and both of our cheeks are dusted pink with an embarrassed blush. We walk behind our friends, occasionally chiming in on the conversation so they don't think anything is up. _Having a secret like this feels… wrong almost, like hiding my new relationship from my friends makes me an awful person. But at the same time, I know that this is for our own safety and privacy. Having to go into Chiron's office and fill out a relationship form? Gross! Being banned from being alone together? Awful! Being teased at every turn? Humiliating!_ I bite my lip, deep in thought. _What would happen if I told?_

" _Girls, I have something to tell you," I say, wiping my sweaty hands on my cherry printed dress._

" _What's up?" Thalia says, drumming on the table._

" _Well, umm… I've been hiding something from you, and I thought it'd be best to just let you know," I stammer._

" _Spit it out girl! What is it?" Piper says._

" _we'll love you no matter what your secret is," Hazel says kindly, reaching across the table to pat my hand._

" _Uh- Percy and I are together!" I spit out._

" _What?" Piper says._

" _When?" Hazel says._

" _Why?" Thalia frowns._

" _What do you mean why? He's sweet, and funny, and kind, and he really likes me!" I yelp._

" _No. Why didn't you tell us?" She says angrily._

" _At first we weren't sure that it would work out, and we didn't want to force you to pick a side if we broke up," I say, wringing my hands._

" _And how long ago was that?" Hazel says._

" _Oh… I don't know, about a month ago?" I shrug._

" _A month? You've been dating him for a month?" Piper says._

" _Are y'all mad at me?" I say._

"Hey, you alright?" Percy says.

"Yeah," I say.

"D'you think your folks like me?" He says suddenly.

"Perce, my mom loves you!" I say.

"But your dad? And your stepmom? And your brothers?" He says, gesturing with his free hand. My calf starts to cramp.

"You know what they're like. It's gonna take them a little while to warm up to you. The twins think you're _awesome_. And Mal? He's inherited Mom's stubbornness, so it's gonna take him awhile. But you'll get there, okay hon?" I say.

"Okay," he says.

"Glad that's been settled," I say, squeezing his hand. He hums under his breath, and I try to listen to figure out the tune. Eventually, the group stops, and Percy uses his free hand to pull the hood over my eyes as he wrenches his hand out of my grasp. "Percy!" I squeal, panicking in the sudden darkness. I stretch my arms out, feeling for anything that can help me. I feel like I'm back in that cold damp basement, with nothing but my denim jacket for warmth. _I loved that jacket._ If I remember correctly, I had to ditch it after using one of the sleeves to tourniquet Percy's snakebite and the other as a makeshift basket to gather berries and other foods. That basically left it as a vest. And that vest ended up being shed when some man grabbed me by the collar. I hear a loud snap, and I jolt.

"You alright?" Percy says. I shakily push the hood away from my face.

"Ye-yeah," I stammer.

"Blue team! Come up and get your bandanas!" Chiron says. Half the group heads up onto the porch and grabs a box labeled with their cabin number. "Red team!" Chiron says once the blue counselors disperse. I stumble forward, extremely conscious of the fact that people are staring at my back, probably because Percy's name is emblazoned on it in white letters. I hoist the box labeled with my cabin onto my hip. I shuffle back towards my cabin, before depositing the box under my bed. I flop face first onto my mattress and groan. _It's been a long day._ I roll over and stare up at the ceiling, letting my mind wander.

" _Woah," I say, staring off at the skyline in the distance. Luke sits to my right. Prometheus, Luke's buddy from detention, is hosting his annual end of school party, and Luke dragged me along as his 'date'. At least, that's what I hope he brought me here for. I'm the only freshman here, so I tried to sneak out onto the roof of the row home complex, but Luke followed me. Down below us, the party rages on in the lot behind the house. My feet dangle off the roof, and I watch as Krios and Koios play beer pong. My half finished can of beer is clenched in my left hand. I'm not drunk, per se, but more tipsy. Everything is a bit fuzzy around the edges, but I still have a handle on what's going on. Luke stares at the side of my face. "What's up? Why are you staring at me?" I say, rotating to face him. He cups my cheek with the hand not holding his beer bottle and presses a kiss to my lips. His lips taste like beer and candy that he likely swiped from teachers' classrooms. My body goes completely numb, and I feel like fireworks are going off in my brain._

The creaking of the floor jolts me out of my daydream.

"Hey nerd, you coming to the campfire?" Thalia says. I cover my face with my hands. "Annabeth, are you okay?" She says.

"Thals, can I talk to you?" I say, sitting up.

"Uh, sure?" She says.

"Have you ever had that thing in your life that you can't _stop_ thinking about?" I start.

"Yeah," She says.

"Well mine isn't a _thing_ , per se, it's a person. His name is Luke," I say.

"And you can't stop thinking about this guy? Sounds to me like you've got a thing for him," she says.

"No _way_. That ship sailed years ago. I just- I can't stop thinking about where it all went _wrong_ , and what I could've done to fix it, you know?" I say.

"What do you mean, _wrong_?" She says, her blue eyes boring into mine.

"It's nothing. He'd been my dream guy for years, and then he suddenly just _changed_. And to this day, I still don't know why," I say.

"People and feelings change sometimes. I mean, think about it! Did you ever think that you'd be crushing on a guy like my cousin?" She says. I glance at my flowers. "Ooh, nice flowers. Where'd you get them?" She says, following my gaze.

"Oh, uh, my mom! Yeah, my mom surprised me with flowers today," I say, praying desperately that she doesn't notice my voice going higher as I desperately try to lie.

"And that shell necklace?" She says.

"Percy made it for me. The shell's from the beach where we got rescued," I say, twirling the shell between my fingers.

"He _made you jewelry_?" She yelps.

"It was a birthday gift. Also a 'hey it's been five years since we got rescued' gift," I say.

"Should we head out to the campfire?" She says.

"I promised Percy that I'd be there to watch him perform so let's get a move on!" I say, getting off the bed and starting for the door. I sit down on the log beside Piper and Hazel. Thalia sits on my other side.

"Congratulations on another successful day here at camp, everyone! By now, I'm sure you know the drill. So grab those marshmallows and let's enjoy!" Percy says, strumming a few chords on the guitar. He leads us through all our usual camp songs, and as we all get ready to leave, he calls out to us. "Now, there's one more thing we have to do tonight. It's come to my attention that there was a birthday here last week, and we never said happy birthday to the birthday girl. Annabeth, will you stand up please?" He says.

"Percy, what are you doing?" I say, getting to my feet.

"Okay everyone. On the count of three. One, two, three!" As soon as he hits three, the air fills with voices singing happy birthday. I grin, and Percy winks at me from across the fire. The nighttime routine goes as normal, until my phone buzzes.

 _Percy: remember I'll meet u at ur cabin after the kids are asleep_

 _You: Can't wait ;)_

I nervously fidget with the hem of my shorts. I pull my hair out of its thick braids and wait until I hear the last child's breathing even out. I pull on my slip ons and slide out the door. Percy is waiting there for me, clad in baggy sweatpants and a white tank top. As I hop down the stairs, I grab a fistful of his shirt and drag him to the woods behind our cabin.

"Wh-" he starts.

"Shh," I say, before cutting him off with my lips. Before long, we end up rolling around in the grass, still furiously attacking each other with our lips. My hands tug at the hem of his shirt, and as if on instinct, he sheds the garment, tossing it away with reckless abandon. I pull away from him a few moments later, panting. Purple bruises bloom across my collarbone, and matching ones adorn the space just below Percy's ear and across his chest. I grin, only to hear a branch crack nearby. We freeze.

" _Harpies_ ," he says in fear. I practically vault over him and grab his shirt, tossing it to him before leading him around the side of my cabin.

"What are you two doing out here?" a harpy says.

"I'd dropped my wallet today. Annabeth Chase found it behind her cabin. I was just meeting her to get it back. I was on my way back to my cabin now," he says.

"Yeah, I couldn't just leave it where it was, or put it in my cabin. I was worried about kids stealing it," I say. He heads back to his cabin, and I shut my cabin door behind me before collapsing onto my bed. Three days pass without any interesting events, almost like the sleepy, idyllic summer that I always wanted, and then it's time to meet Percy's friends.

"Okay, Annabeth, don't freak out, but we need to stop by my apartment for a sec. just stay close to me, and when we get there, whatever you do, _don't_ go inside," Percy says, his voice deathly serious. I wipe my hands on my dress.

"Maybe nobody will be home?" I say hopefully.

"With my luck? Highly unlikely," he grumbles. We turn down an alleyway, and I grip my bag tighter. In the pocket of my jacket, I close my fist around my can of pepper spray. On the other side of the alley lies Percy's neighborhood: the place that girls like me try to avoid, lest we be attacked. As we walk down the sidewalk, I hear shouts in a combination of English and Spanish, and a boy wearing a yellow bandana that marks him as a member of the Royals calls out from his place on the stoop of a building.

"Hey Jackson! Where ya been man? Haven't seen you hangin around here lately!" He says.

"Reg! What's good bro?" Percy says, gripping Reg's hand and lifting him to his feet.

"And who might this fine lady be?" Reg says, looking me up and down. I know that look well. It's the same look that everyone at Appleton gave me after Luke. I swallow my misgivings and nod in greeting.

"Annabeth," I say, rolling my eyes.

"Where've you _been_ man? We've been looking for you!" Reg says to Percy.

"Working out in Long Island, tryna get some cash for the summer," he replies.

"Nice," Reg says.

"Hey Reg, I gotta go, but uh, catch you later?" He says.

"Nice meeting you Reg!" I chirp, before turning and following Percy. I stare straight ahead, hoping that I can somehow blend in here. Percy abruptly stops in front of a dilapidated brick building. He grabs my arm and ushers me through the door. As we walk to the elevator, I notice a piece of paper taped to the door. "'Elevator down for repairs. Should be operational by August third. -management'. So now what?" I say.

"We walk the three flights of stairs up to my floor. Remember, _wait outside_ my apartment. If things get bad, knock on the door across the hall. The Morais live there," he says, turning towards the stairwell.

"Morais?" I repeat, following after him.

"They're three southern grandmas that share the apartment. Real sweet ladies. I bring em their groceries during the school year and they knit me socks and hats and things for Christmas. They'll love you," he says.

"If there's three of them, why do you call them the Morais? Are they all related?" I say.

"The whole street calls them that. They're like everyone's grandmas, and one is never seen without the other two," he says.

"That's sweet," I say, climbing a step above him.

"Here's our floor," he says, gesturing to the door behind me. I grab the lapels of his jacket and crush my lips against his.

"Be safe, okay?" I say.

"I'll try," he says, running a hand down the side of my face.

"What do you need to grab?" I murmur.

"My MetroPass. The pizzeria we're meeting the band at is by Central Park," he says. I open the door, and he goes through. I follow him down the hall. He pulls his keys out of the pocket of his pants and unlocks door 3-G. Instantly, the sounds of male voices arguing and beer bottles hitting solid wood fills my ears.

"I'm going with you," I say.

"No," he says, deathly serious.

"It's not a choice. I'm going with you," I say.

"I can't let you get hurt," he says, folding his arms across his chest.

"I'm not some damsel in distress Jackson! I'll be fine!" I say.

"Fine," he says. I grab his hand, and together we walk inside the apartment.

"You're bluffing, Ugliano!" a paunchy man with bloodshot eyes yells, slamming his cards down on the table. The floor creaks.

"Goddammit," Percy mutters.

"You! What are you doing home, bastard?" a man I assume to be Gabe slurs.

"I live here," Percy says, rolling his eyes.

"Money. Now," Gabe says.

"I don't have any," Percy says.

"What about your little _friend_ here?" He says.

"No way. I don't even know you!" I say quietly. Gabe rises from his seat so fast that the chair falls over. Upon seeing the look in his eyes, Gabe's friends book it out of his apartment. Instantly, Percy shoves me behind him.

"Don't you _dare_ touch her," Percy growls. I ready my pepper spray.

"Perce, go get your card. I've got this handled," I say, my voice steely calm.

Percy slowly steps out of the way and down the glass strewn hallway. I size Gabe up. _He's only five foot nine. I can take him. Breathe Annabeth._ He lunges for me, and I kick him in the gut before spraying him. He falls to the ground, shouting in pain. I kneel at his side and twist his arm behind his back.

"What the hell!" Gabe yells.

"Now, you listen here _pal_. I'm giving you one week to get out of this house and leave this family alone, or else I'm sending your ass to Rikers for attempted assault and domestic abuse. Understood? Good! And if I ever hear that you've been bothering this sweet family again, you're going to have to answer to me, got it?" I growl. Percy walks back out.

"Woah, what the hell did you _do_?" He says in awe.

"He'll be out of this apartment by next Friday, isn't that right?" I say with a grin.

"Yes," Gabe groans, his face buried in the carpet.

"And you're transferring all of their money back to them, _isn't that right_?" I say, digging my nails into his arm as I pull it harder, almost breaking the bones.

"Yes," he says through gritted teeth.

"Let's go, hon," I say, standing up and taking Percy's hand. We walk back into the sunny street. "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you!" I say.

"Tell me what?" He says.

"My parents know that we're like… _a thing_ , and they seem like they're warming up to the idea," I say.

"What, that's great!" He says.

"Now, where's your Mom's candy shop?" I say.

"Actually, it's fairly close to where we're eating. Come on!" He says, taking my arm. We walk down the sidewalk, and I swipe my MetroCard to get into the subway station. We ride in silence, and I subconsciously smooth my skirt. Once we're out of the station, he grabs my hand again. We stop in front of a shop with the words 'Sweet on America' written on the front in flowing script. He pulls open the door, and I see Sally behind the counter dressed in a blue button down shirt. Percy saunters straight up to the counter. The other patrons stare, likely not expecting a boy who dresses like Percy to set foot into a candy shop.

"Louise, can you take the register for a few minutes? I'm taking my break!" Sally says as soon as she sees us. As she scoots out from behind the counter, I see her eyes light up when she sees me standing awkwardly behind Percy. "Percy! What a surprise! Oh and you brought Annabeth along!" She says as she ushers us into an employees only section of the store.

"Nice to see you again Sally," I say kindly.

"Guess what Annabeth did?" Percy says, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet like a little kid.

"What?" She says.

"I… uh… convinced Gabe to sign your divorce papers, transfer all of your money back into your account, and leave your apartment for good by next Friday. I hope I didn't overstep my boundaries," I stammer. Sally squeaks and crushes me in a hug.

" _Thank you_ ," She says as she pulls away.

"And I followed your advice, mom," Percy says, rubbing the back of his neck.

"What advice?" She says.

"Your advice about Annabeth here," he says, jerking a thumb towards me. I give a sheepish smile.

"You mean-" she gasps.

"Annabeth's my girlfriend now," he says, his face bright red.

"Congratulations! Oh, I'll have to have you over for dinner sometime after you two get back from camp!" She says.

"Oh, ma'am you really don't need to do that!" I say.

"Can I go get my usual stash of candy?" Percy says.

"Run along, I wanted to talk to Annabeth anyways," she says. Percy nods and slips back into the store. "So, Annabeth. I just wanted to let you know that you're _always_ welcome at our home, especially after what you've done for us," she says.

"About Gabe? Oh, that was nothing ma'am. I was glad to help y'all," I interrupt.

"Percy's told me about your time together as kids. He told me that you'd saved his life multiple times. And now this? You'll always have a place with us, dearie," she says.

"I have no clue what to say Mrs Jackson, thank you so much!" I say.

"No, thank you for helping my boy," she says.

"Anything you need, I'll see what I can do to help. That's a promise. Percy tells me that you want to be an author, correct?" I say.

"Yes, why?" She says.

"My Dad's a college professor. He used to work at Hunter College in the Upper East Side. He was really good friends with an English professor there. Maybe I can see about letting you sit in on her classes or getting into her night program?" I say.

"Why would you do that for me? You barely know me!" She says.

"True, but I know Percy. And Percy gushes about you nonstop, and from what I've seen, you're definitely a wonderful woman. I promised Percy years ago that I'd help him and his family out if they ever needed it, and I intend to keep that promise. I'm taking Percy down to the VA office later today to register for the GI benefits that his father left him so you can have a little bit less to worry about," I say.

"You are a _wonderful_ girl, Annabeth," she says. My face flushes. Percy comes back into the room.

"Hey, Beth, we gotta go. Love you mom," he says.

"Let me know if Gabe tries anything, alright?" I say, as Percy ushers me out. I glance down at the bag of candy in his hand. "All blue. Why am I not surprised?" I say, rolling my eyes. He shoves the candy into the pocket of his leather jacket and takes my hand as we navigate the crowded sidewalks. A boy clad in cargo shorts and a striped T-shirt stares at us as we attempt to walk past him.

"Jackson? Is that you?" He says.

"Uh, hey Zack. What's up man?" Percy says, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Haven't seen you since school let out. How's your summer been so far?" Zack says.

"Oh- um… fine, I guess? He responds awkwardly.

"Hon, we're blocking the sidewalk. Can we maybe get a move on?" I say.

"And who's this?" Zack says.

"This is my… uh… this is Annabeth," he says. I wave in greeting. _Wait. Why didn't he introduce me as his girlfriend? Is he embarrassed to be with me?_ In my head, I file that thought away for later.

"Well, it was so nice to meet you Zack, but we've gotta get going," I say when the conversation reaches a natural stopping place. Percy suddenly speeds up, and I yelp as my arm gets tugged on.

"Wait! I have short legs!" I say. He sighs, and pulls me alongside a building. "What are you doing?" I say.

"I keep forgetting that you've got tiny legs. Sorry," he says.

"Aww, it's fine Seaweed Brain," I say.

"We only have another three blocks, okay?" He says, pulling me closer. Almost on reflex, I rise up onto my tiptoes. He presses a lingering kiss against my lips. Instantly, my nerves about today disappear. As I drop back down onto the ground, the heels of my boots hit the ground with a loud _clack_.

"Let's go," I say, gripping his hand tighter. We weave through the masses until we stop in front of a building with a green awning over the door and the windows.

"Here we are: Di Lorenzo's Pizza. Everyone else should be here soon," he says. I let go of his hand and stand on my tiptoes.

"Your hair is sticking up weird," I say. He leans his head down and I smooth out a cowlick above his ear. It sticks back out as soon as I move my hand away. I huff in frustration and pull a hair pin out of my pocket and pin it in place.

"Better?" He says.

"Better," I grin. I drop back down to my normal height, and he ruffles my hair. I cross my arms and glare at him.

"Come on Smallfry," he laughs

" This is so unfair! I'm older than you!" I pout.

"Come on babe, don't be so pouty. It's not your fault. I'm just tall," he laughs.

"I used to tower over you!" I whine.

"I know, hon. I know," he says, before stooping to kiss my forehead. I feign anger for as long as I can, but I succumb to the dazing bliss that accompanies Percy. I yawn. "Dude, _how_ are you tired?"

"Oh shut up. You weren't up until three am last night dealing with the cabin ten fight," I grumble.

"There was a fight in Piper's cabin? Why couldn't she handle it?" He says.

"They'd tied her to her bed while she was sleeping. She called me in to fix it," I say.

"They _tied her to her bed_? Kinky," he smirks. I punch his arm.

"You little shit! Actually, I bet you'd like that, wouldn't you? Should've known that you had a bondage kink," I say.

"I do not!" He gasps, placing a hand on his chest and looking scandalized.

"Oh you _so_ do," I smirk.

"Annabeth, I _do not_ have a bondage kink!" He whines. A voice clears their throat behind him. I burst out laughing.

"I'm assuming that these are your friends?" I snicker, before doubling over with laughter. His face goes bright red, and he turns to face the group of teens behind him.

"Oh, hey guys," he stammers. I straighten up.

"I'm just teasing, hon," I say, patting his back as I scoot up beside him.

"So guys, this is my… girlfriend, Annabeth. Annabeth, this is everyone," he says.

"Hmm, lemme guess. You're CJ," I say, pointing to the girl with tousled green and blue hair. "Which makes you… Ace, correct?" I say, pointing to the boy next to her with the streak of dyed hair. I'd spoken to him briefly before, but I doubt he remembers. "You must be… Xander," I say, pointing to the boy with long brown hair tied up in a messy top knot with lip rings in both corners of his mouth. "And that must make you… Tommy," I say, gesturing to the tall skinny boy with a brown buzz cut and a gray beanie standing to the right of Ace and CJ. "How'd I do?" I say.

"You were right," Percy replies.

"It's _so_ nice to meet you. And I've listened to your stuff," I say.

"And?" Ace says.

"It's really good. Not my thing, per se, but I can appreciate talent. And y'all have talent," I say.

"So Jackson, where'd you meet Annabeth?" Tommy says.

"Yeah, no offense dude, but she's like _way_ out of your league," Xander says. CJ rolls her eyes.

"While you interrogate PJ, Annabeth and I will go get us a table," CJ says. We head inside.

"Sorry about them," she says.

"Oh, it's fine," I say nervously.

"How long have you two been together?" She says.

"Uh… we've been seeing each other for about a month now, but we just became official three days ago," I stammer.

"You know, Percy has not _stopped_ talking about you all summer. It's nice to finally put a face to the name," she says.

"If only he'd return the favor. I practically had to drag your names out of him," I say.

"He never mentioned the whole…" She starts, looking me up and down.

"Girly blonde thing?" I say.

"Yeah," She says.

"Well, what _did_ he say then?" I say.

"He said you were smart and sarcastic and funny," she says. I blush.

"He mentioned that you were really sarcastic too," I say. She's a few inches taller than me.

"You know, I always figured you'd be taller," she says.

"Yeah, I get that a lot. I actually used to be taller than Percy, can you believe that?" I say.

" _No way_ ," she says.

"Yeah, when I first met Percy, it was before he hit his punk phase, and I had about three inches on him. Of course, he shot up like a weed, and I stopped growing," I say.

"The entire time I've known Percy, he's just been really tall," she says.

"So, what's your story? I know absolutely nothing about you," I say after we get put on the list for a booth.

"Moved here from Minnesota when I was thirteen,

and I've been here ever since," she says.

"Minnesota? That's uhh… interesting," I say.

"You've been here your whole life?" She says.

"Nah, I moved up here from southern Virginia when I was about eleven, met Percy the following year, and well… here we are!" I say. She pokes her head out of the door.

"Boys! Quit harassing Jackson and get in here!" She snaps. The boys tumble into the room. I laugh. "She's cool guys, don't worry," she remarks. The guys breathe a sigh of relief and slump their shoulders, likely grateful that they don't need to act all proper.

"I don't see it," Percy jokes.

"Honey, I'm cooler than you, mister Finding Nemo boxers," I snark.

"You're the worst," he deadpans.

"You weren't saying that last night," I smirk. His face flushes.

"Man, Perce, how'd you meet this chick?" Ace guffaws.

"Oh you know, it was easy. All I had to do was disregard all of my Mom's rules, go out in a rainstorm, cut through the wrong alley, get chloroformed to the point where I pass out, then wake up hours later in a musty basement. Real simple," Percy snarks.

"You little shit," I say, rolling my eyes.

"Oh Percy, you and your jokes," Tommy laughs.

"It's not a joke. When I first met him, he was high off his ass on chloroform or whatever, and he was somehow even more of a dork back then than he is now," I joke, poking Percy in the side.

"I do love a good Percy's a dork story. Go on Annabeth," Xander says.

"This boy took one look at me, said I looked like a princess, then passed the hell out. It was _hilarious_ ," I giggle.

"You did!" He protests.

"Perce. By that point, I'd been captive for four days, was covered in dirt and dust, and my hair was greasy and tangled as all hell," I deadpan.

"Shut up," he groans.

"Where do you go to school?" Ace says.

"East River Academy for Gifted Girls," I stammer.

"Damn, really? That school's one of the best in the country!" Tommy says.

"Yeah," I say. CJ waves us over to the booth, and I sit between Percy and Xander. "So, if you don't mind me asking, what does CJ stand for?" I ask nervously.

"So guys, the usual?" Percy interrupts. Everyone nods. "Beth?" He says.

"Oh, I'll eat whatever," I say.

"Alright, one plain and one pepperoni pie coming right up!" He says. He gets up and walks towards the counter.

"CJ stands for Clara Jane. But I hate that name, so _please_ call me CJ," she says. A boy slides in beside me.

"Hey Per-... wait, _Ethan_? What are _you_ doing here?" I say.

"Didn't Luke tell you? We're having a reunion! Wanna join?" He says.

"No. I left that dump for a reason. Now, get away from me! And tell your dipshit friends that I can, and _will_ , pepper spray you into next week if you ever harass me again," I say.

"You wouldn't. We're _friends_ ," he smirks.

"Correction: we _were_ friends. Now? I have absolutely no qualms about hurting you. Oh, and is that Luke over there? Well tell him that I am _never_ going to go back to him. Now move," I say, my voice sickly sweet.

"I don't have to do _anything_ , Chase," he sneers. I feel something sharp poking at my back. _Did he pull a knife on me?_

"Guys, I have to take care of something. I'll be right back, okay? And whatever you do, don't tell Percy," I say.

"Got it," CJ says. I let Ethan lead me away, and when I get to their table, I free myself, punching him directly in his good eye. He yelps in pain, and I grab his arm that holds the knife, twisting it behind his back.

"What the _hell_ Annie?" Luke says, as I shove Ethan face first into their table.

"I told y'all to leave me alone!" I say. Ethan groans. "And this _asshole_ decided that the phrase 'leave me alone' means 'hey, lemme pull a knife on this girl'." I say, my nails piercing his skin.

"Get off of me!" Ethan groans.

"Let go of him!" Kelli pleads.

" _Funny_. Luke here doesn't know what that means, now does he? No. He's just another fucking frat boy _douche_ who thinks he's god's gift to women despite being a manipulative, abusive, sexist ass. And he _wonders_ why I dumped him," I scoff.

"Annie," he starts.

"And, _no_ , Luke, I'm not taking you back. I'm done with guys like you. I've got a boyfriend who's a hundred times the man you could ever be. Take a hint, you _rapist_ ," I sneer, before turning on my heel and sashaying away. As soon as I sit back down at the table, Ace interrogates me.

"What the _hell_ was that?" He says.

"Oh, an ex friend of mine who tried to pull a knife on me," I shrug.

"Not what I meant," he says.

"Oh! The fight! Took three years of self defense classes," I say.

"That was impressive," Tommy says. I blush.

"Thanks," I say.

"I'd never expect something like that from-" Xander says.

"Someone like me?" I say expectantly.

"Well, yeah," he says.

"Everybody discounts the former southern belle," I drawl. Percy comes back over to the table with two pizza boxes. "Oh, hey hon!" I say, kissing his cheek as he sits down. I reach for a slice of pizza, and Percy grabs my hand.

"Is that _blood_ on your knuckles?" He asks incredulously.

"Maybe?" I say sheepishly.

"Babe-" he starts.

"It's from self defense! Ethan pulled a knife on me!" I protest.

"He _what_?" He says.

"Perce, I handled it. I'm not some damsel in distress, you know," I say.

"I'm still worried! You could've gotten seriously hurt!" He says.

"I can handle myself. You forget, I made it all the way here with nothing but the clothes on my back and a hammer. I'm a tough girl," I say, before taking a bite of my slice.

"You _what_?" CJ says.

"Um… I'm a runaway. Well, a former one anyways. Left Virginia at age seven, went back four months later," I say awkwardly.

"Holy _shit_ ," Xander says.

"How the _hell_ did you find a girl like this?" Ace says.

"He's just lucky, I guess," I joke, flipping my hair over my shoulder.

"You're _way_ too good for Jackson here," CJ says. I laugh.

"He said the exact same thing," I joke.

"Hey, I gotta head to the bathroom," CJ says.

"I'll go with," I say, before clambering out of the booth and towards the bathroom with CJ. We walk into the bathroom in silence.

"I'm so glad that you came along," she says through the stall. The other stall is empty, with water on the floor.

"Hmm?" I say.

"I was getting tired of being the only girl in our group," she says.

"I can imagine," I say. The toilet flushes.

"And I haven't seen Percy this happy since Rachel," she says, coming out of the stall and stopping in front of the sink. I blush.

"I'm lucky to have him, to be honest," I say.

"Oh?" She says. The sink turns on.

"Yeah. We kind of _need_ each other, you know? Not like we're codependent or anything, but we balance each other out," I say.

"Ace and I are kind of the opposite. We're a little _too_ similar sometimes. It gets us into trouble sometimes," she says. I laugh.

"Being polar opposites isn't all it's cracked up to be, hon," I say.

"Let's agree to disagree," she says. I push open the door and we walk back over to the guys. They move to allow us back in, and we gladly oblige.

"Miss us?" I joke, before absentmindedly wiping a bit of sauce off Percy's chin with my thumb.

"You wish," Percy snarks.

"That's not what you said on Sunday and you know it, _lover boy_ ," I say, rising up to whisper the last two words in his ear. His face flushes red, and I laugh.

"Beth," he whines, clapping his hands over his cheeks.

"I'm just teasing," I say, bumping him with my elbow.

"God, I _cannot_ wait to meet your family," he jokes.

"You've met them!" I say.

"Not as your boyfriend. And one of your brothers _hates_ me," he says.

"He's _eleven_ ," I say.

"How many brothers do you have?" Ace asks.

"Three. A set of twins and an eleven year old. The twins are nine," I say.

"You poor thing," CJ says.

"It's not so bad, I guess. The twins live out in San Francisco with my dad and my stepmom so I don't have to deal with them as much, and the other one lives in Flushing with my mom," I say. Tommy's watch alarm beeps.

"I hate to cut this meeting short, but I have to head to work. It was nice meeting you Annabeth!" he says.

"Yeah… we should probably get going too. Nice meeting you Annabeth. Hopefully Percy'll bring you around more," CJ says. She and the others leave, leaving Percy and I alone at the table.

"Perce, don't we have to be back where Argus dropped us off at four?" I say.

"Yeah, what time is it?" he says.

"3:15. We gotta go too," I say.

"Good thing I already paid. Come on Blondie," he says, getting up and offering me his arm.

"Percy Jackson, who knew you were such a gentleman?" I joke, taking his arm.

"What can I say? Guess my mom raised me right," he says, leading me out the doors. As we walk back to the subway station, I find myself humming that one song from the Wizard of Oz, the one about being off to see the Wizard. Percy looks down at me oddly, before suddenly speeding up, sending us skipping down the sidewalk. We stop by the stairs leading down to the subway, and i clutch my stomach, laughing at the trail of bewildered passers by that we left in our wake. On the train, there's the usual crazy person, shouting about the end being near, but I pay him no mind. On the ride back to camp, the only sound in the car is Percy blaring his rock music through his earbuds at full volume the way he always does. I've never understood how his ears can stand it, but I just chalk it up to him being _Percy_.

The end of summer creeps up on us the way it always does in youth, first slowly and then all at once. Tonight is the last game of the Color War, and the teams are neck and neck, tied with 6 wins each. The competition is cutthroat, but I have a feeling that my kids will win. After all, our final game is an all camper game of Capture the Flag. My cabin _excels_ at strategy, and with the help of the red team, we are sure to succeed. While the kids play their game under Satyr supervision, we counselors are tasked with cleaning up the campsite. After all, it's the last day of camp tomorrow, a day of tearful goodbyes, contact information exchanges, and bittersweet feelings. My campers have packed up all but what they need for the next day, and all that is left for me to do is sweep the floors, clean the windows, and then add a picture of our cabin to the Cabin 6 wall. On that wall, I see myself.I see myself as I was then, not _Annie_ , the bossy blonde girl with huge plans and big dreams and too much faith in others. But I see myself as Beth too, the girl who _hides_ , the girl who has given up fighting and dreaming and planning, because she knows that the world will just crush her and leave her behind. Staring at the forever frozen face of my young self, the girl with the wide smile and the ripped overalls, I feel _whole_ , as if the part of me that Luke took on that fateful day has been returned. I am _Annabeth,_ the girl who endured so much, but still has the courage to dream, the girl who loves others despite the pain that love has caused her, the girl who _fights_ to achieve all that young Annie dreamed of. I paste the picture of our cabin this summer on the wall, and five pictures over, my young eyes stare back at me. Under my bed, I find my straightener, gathering a bit of dust. I stare at it for awhile, then put it away. The girl that I was after Luke is gone now, and my life can finally move forward. There's a commotion down by the forest, and I run towards it, along with the others. A camper from the Artemis Cabin, on the shoulders of her teammates. We did it. Red team has won. All around me, campers shriek and counselors cheer, but I am frozen. I feel as though I've forgotten something, but what? I see Jason rubbing Percy's back in sympathy, and then it hits me. _The bet. Percy has to jump into the canoe lake in his underwear._ I laugh then, a wild, joyous laugh, and I grab Piper and Thalia's hands, jumping for joy. I know that my red skirt is flying up now, but I don't care. Chiron manages to quiet us all down, and the celebration screeches to a halt.

"Campers, thank you for a wonderful summer. Special congratulations to the Red team for winning this year's Color War. As always, the counselors have worked together to develop a clay bead that summarizes this summer. Leo would you please?" Chiron says.

"So this year, we've made a lot of great memories. But for us, I think that the greatest thing was the solar eclipse. So for our bead this year, that's what we did. The sun, the moon, and the stars. Your counselors will be giving out the beads when you return to your cabins. Now let's party!" Leo says, before cranking up the volume on the stereo that he's hidden god knows where. this party replaces the sing along tonight, so we dance wildly around the fire. At some point, Piper starts a conga line, and I join in as the line snakes its way through the camp. When the celebration winds down, we lead our campers back to our cabins.

"I know you've heard this thousands of times today, but I want to thank you for a great summer. Being your counselor truly was a privilege, and I want you to know that I am _always_ available if you need me, because we're a family. Wherever you go after this summer, just know that Camp Half Blood is always with you. I'll see you in the morning," I say, as my campers get into bed. I turn the lights out, and I wait for them to go to sleep before slipping out of bed and padding up to the other counselors.

"Annabeth, can you go check on Percy?" Frank says.

"Why do I have to?" I say.

"He's coming!" Nico says. Percy walks up to the top of the hill shivering in the night air, wearing only a pair of blue boxer briefs. Thalia jokingly whistles. I stare at him in shock from my position at the end of the dock.

"Okay Perce! 3, 2,1, go!" Jason says. He takes off like a shot, barreling towards the dock. As he passes counselors, they follow behind him cheering. I am the last counselor, standing right in the splash zone. Leo is filming. Suddenly, Percy stops, right in front of me.

"Wha?" I start, before he grabs my shoulders and presses his lips against mine. The counselors roar in approval, and I wrap my arms around his neck, trusting him to take the lead. Suddenly, my feet leave the dock, and there's a splash. I sink helplessly into the cold water. I open my eyes, looking around. Everything's a fuzzy mess below the surface, my friends at the end of the dock looking like blurry blobs. The only thing that is fairly clear is Percy, swimming towards me. I start swimming to the surface for air, but he grabs my hand, pulling me back to him. He kisses me again, and for once, I'm tall enough to slide a hand through his hair, so I do. Somehow, this feels more intimate than our other kisses, even though we're not alone, and our friends are currently using flashlights to scan the water for us. I guess there's just something inherently _intimate_ that comes with one person being nearly completely naked. For whatever reason, having our first public kiss underwater just feels _right_ , as if that gesture is perfect for us. When we come up for air, it's silent. Although that could just be from the fact that Percy and I just full on made out in front of our friends. While I manage to surface under the dock, Percy surfaces in front of the others.

"What, is there something on my face?" Percy jokes. I paddle out from under the dock and move next to him. Water soaking my cotton pajamas feels _foreign_ , and I shiver. Everyone's staring at us. I laugh nervously.

"So… uh… anybody have a towel?" I say, my face heating up. Rachel offers me her hand from up on the dock, and I gratefully accept it, pulling myself ashore.

" _Best Summer Ever!_ " Percy shouts, his voice hoarse.

"Hey sweetheart. Might wanna get out of the lake," I call, my teeth chattering. I pull the towel tighter around my body, letting my feet dangle in the water.

"Yeah sure babe," he says, before swimming over to the edge and pulling himself onto the muddy ground near the lake.

"Well, I've got to go dry off. See you in the morning," I say, before stepping off the dock. "Oh, by the way, we've been together for weeks now," I say over my shoulder.

Pickup arrives quickly, and I sit atop the hill with the rest of the counselors watching as the last of the kids leave. We say nothing. We were teased enough this morning, when the Stolls stole the microphone from Chiron and loudly told everyone to celebrate the "new couple". I think back to the interview, like I often have in the weeks since it aired.

 _Percy, Grover, and I sit in identical chairs, although we're acting completely different from one another. The interviewer sits across from us._

" _So how close did you grow after your experience?" She says._

" _Honestly, we lost touch for a while, but this summer, we've grown closer than ever before," Percy says._

" _We're not just friends. We're a family. That's what I gained from that summer: two pseudo brothers. I know that they've got my back, and I've got theirs, because that's what we've always 're my boys," I say._

" _These two are like the siblings that I've never had. Sure we bicker, and we disagree, but we'll always love each other in a way that nobody else can," Grover says. Percy grabs my hand._

" _Annabeth's our girl," he says. My face goes bright pink._

" _Our other friends and coworkers don't understand the bond that we have. I guess that they don't understand why we stick together like glue," I say, resting my hand on top of Grover's arm._

" _And after all of this, you're still not angry at your captor?" she says._

" _Well, it's complicated. I mean, he shot me. He scarred me for life. My family hates him, and they have the right to. But me? I may never understand why he did what he did, but I don't hate him. If he'd never taken me, I don't know where I'd be today," Percy says._

" _Honestly, no. He was a disturbed man, but I learned a lot about myself. I saw so much of the country, and I met the most wonderful people. Sure, I was scarred by the experience, but overall, I'm thankful for the opportunities that it gave me," I say._

" _Holding a grudge doesn't help us grow. My family taught me to forgive. I can't forget what happened to me, but I've forgiven him for all that he did," Grover says._

The wind rustles the trees around me, and I stare up at the neverending sky overhead. Birds chirp and soar by us, as if to say goodbye. The camp shuttle arrives to take us to town, where we'll meet our families.

"Last one to the shuttle's a rotten egg!" Connor calls, before taking off like a shot down the hill. We rush after him, laughing and cheering like the kids that we are. I look back to the top of the hill to see Chiron, sitting in his wheelchair, with his frayed blanket draped over his legs. I wave goodbye, making a silent promise to keep in touch with everyone from this summer, a promise to return someday and maybe help make another kid's summer as wonderful as mine was.


End file.
